High Noon
by Omniscient
Summary: When Olivia Casey, Rachel Black's best friend from college, turns up in La Push, her enemies follow close behind her. Now, it's up to the Pack- with the help of the Cullens- to defeat them once and for all!
1. Imprinting

For some reason, lately, everything seems to start at Jake's house. We still call it Jake's house even though he hasn't lived there for nearly eight years. He claims he's coming back, but we're not entirely sure. Well, Sam is, but Quil and I- and those of us who know him well- aren't.

So now, Billy Black now lives in that small house with his daughter and her husband. Rachel was going to move to Paul's place, but when Jake left with the Cullens, she decided that she couldn't leave her father alone. He's in a wheel chair, so I suppose she had a point. Billy and Paul get along all right, so it all worked out.

Things had mostly been quiet since the Cullens left. There hadn't been any more Vampires around and we were getting bored. Then, about two years ago, a new family moved into a small house on the far end of Hoquiam. Just a man and a woman and their teenage daughter. Well, it was the man's daughter from a previous marriage. The woman was far too young to be her mother. There was no mention of what had happened to the girl's mother. She shied away from everyone, though, like she was afraid and there had been a rumor that she was abused, but she seemed to absolutely adore her father and step mother, so the rumors fizzled and died after a few weeks.

We'd been at Jake's when Sam had told us that he suspected they were more vampires, but they were... different, somehow. They didn't smell like Vampires. And they didn't LOOK quite like Vampires, either. Oh, sure, they were absolutely gorgeous, but the woman had olive-toned skin and the girl, though blond, was only slightly paler. The man was pale enough, but none had the faint purple circles under their eyes. I suggested that they could be some of those half-Vampires, like Renesmee, but we never got any farther. The three stayed away from the rez, so we didn't worry about it too much.

We'd been at Jake's when, surprising nobody more than herself, Leah imprinted. We'd all thought it was just the men who did that, but then, we'd all thought that only men could become wolves, too. But, there we were, minding our own business when in walked three guys from the Makah rez and Leah laid eyes on one of them and that was that. They're getting married this May.

We'd even been at Jake's when Emily went into labor. She swore it was just bad cramps until her water broke. Sam's freakishly proud of his daughter. To hear him tell it, she's the most perfect thing ever to have graced the planet.

As luck would have it, we were at Jake's again- somehow it had become the official meeting place in the past few years- when a friend of Rachel's turned up. I, personally, will NEVER forget it. We were sitting around, arguing good-naturedly about basketball when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Rachel said, extricating herself from Paul's arms and heading towards the door. "You guys just keep up your amazingly important debate."

"You gotta admit," Quil pointed out as if there had been no interruption. "I'm right about the Lakers."

"Quil, you wouldn't know a Laker if he threw a ball into your face."

There was laughter all around, but it could not drown out the squeal of delight that came from the front door. We all looked around to see what was going on.

Rachel had her arms around a tall, pale skinned girl with dark auburn hair. The girl in turn had her arms around Rachel and the two were laughing and shrieking in delight. I knew we weren't going to get much of an explanation for a while, so I made to turn back to the conversation, but caught the girl's eye over Rachel's shoulder.

And I was suddenly lost.

It was as if the whole world suddenly ceased to exist and the only person who mattered anymore was this strange, pale girl I didn't even know. It was like a giant hand had suddenly put it's thumb on everyone and everything else and she was the only thing left. Everything that made me who I am was gone and the only thing keeping me grounded were those beautiful hazel eyes, that wonderfully soft hair blowing in the gentle breeze. It left me absolutely breathless.

And I was suddenly found.

"Hey, Embry, you okay?"

I looked around to see Quil staring at me. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good," I replied quickly.

Sam was giving me a speculative look and Paul was grinning knowingly. "Hey, Rachel," Paul called. "You gonna introduce your friend?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Rachel, jumping away from the pale girl and pulling her into the house- the door was nearly forgotten, but Seth, who was nearest to it, jumped up to push it closed. "This is Olivia Casey. Olivia, this is- well, everyone. That's Paul- the cute one waving. And this is Seth and Quil and Embry and Leah and her fiancé Bradon. And that's Jared and the little one is Claire- she's not quite 10- and Emily's in the kitchen, I think, with Kim. They love to cook. And- did I miss anyone?"

"I'll probably forget all the names in a minute," admitted Olivia, glancing around at us all. Her gaze fell on me and lingered there for a moment. She gave me a sort of half-grin and continued looking around at everyone.

"Well, come in," said Rachel, leading Olivia into the room.

I jumped up from my place on the sofa and offered it to Olivia. She smiled- her eyes had a way of sparkling that made the breath catch in my throat- and thanked me, sitting between Quil and Leah. I sat on the floor in front of her, half turned so I could steal glances anytime I pleased.

Jared was studying me carefully. They all knew what had happened. Even those who hadn't had it happen to them yet knew. I'd imprinted on Olivia Casey- on a pale face. Not that it mattered to me or any of the rest of them. Jake had done the same thing. (What could be paler than a half Vampire?)

Still, I wasn't sure how my mother was going to react. She wasn't prejudiced or anything, but she felt that people should stick to their own races when thinking about marriage. She thought that if we kept inter-marrying, we'd eventually become one race and where was the fun in that? She liked the differences between us. She thought we were all beautiful and each race should be kept pure to preserve that beauty.

I hoped she would understand.

"Embry, is it?"

"Huh?" I asked, slightly confused. "Oh, yeah, Embry Call," I introduced myself properly.

Olivia grinned at me. "You're the same Embry that's friends with Rachel's brother?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me," I admitted, giving her my best grin.

She responded with an even bigger- but somehow less sparkly- grin. "I've heard a lot about you, then," she said. "And Quil," she added, turning to Quil.

Quil grinned. "And probably none of it good," he said. "We used to torture her and Rebbecca."

"So I've heard," said Olivia, eyebrows raised mischievously.

Oh, no. What had Rachel told her? Could I convince her I wasn't like that anymore? On some subconscious command, my eyes flicked themselves to Rachel and in the half a moment my gaze was on her face, she looked shocked and surprised.

"Hey, Embry, relax," said Paul, who had caught the look, too. In fact, from the looks on faces around the room, everyone had.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," said Olivia. "She remembers it fondly. The egg yolks actually made her hair softer, so no harm done."

Quil laughed raucously and his Claire giggled with him. "You put eggs in aunt Rachel's hair?" she asked her favorite nanny.

"Not on purpose," Quil told her, leaning forward to ruffle her hair. "It was a prank on Jake, see, and she stuck her head out the window to yell at us just as we threw a couple of eggs and- well, there you are."

This time, Olivia's laugh- a lovely, bubbly chuckle- joined Claire's. "It's always the accidents that are funniest to look back on," she said. "There was one time I- well, it's embarrassing, but let's just say I ended up covered in mud. It was horrifying at the time, but looking back, it was really quite funny."

"Hindsight is comical," agreed Sam.

"We DID hear a new voice."

I turned to see Emily and Kim come in from the kitchen, each laden with two trays of food. Emily set hers down quickly on the coffee table and introduced herself to Olivia. "I'm Emily and this is Kim," she said, shaking hands with Olivia.

"I'm Olivia Casey," she said. "A friend of Rachel's from school."

"Yeah, you never did tell me what you're doing here," said Rachel, brows scrunching together. "I mean, not that I mind, of course."

"Oh, I got a job," explained Olivia, eyes dancing- I thought that she was very beautiful. "At Forks High School. They're starting a music program and I get to teach it!"

"How PERFECT for you!" exclaimed Rachel, beaming. "You going to start an orchestra, too?"

"They left it up to me, so I think I will," Olivia said. "I mean, I may as well, you know? I'll probably get the freshmen started as well as the middle school. Or maybe just the whole high school- they'll all be starting off in the same place, after all."

"That'll be brilliant," laughed Jared, his arm absentmindedly going around Kim's shoulders as she sat next to him. "Forks High School with an orchestra when most of the schools around here haven't even got a band director."

"They're just lucky, I guess," said Olivia, her bubbling chuckle making me grin again.

I lost track of the conversation at that point, wondering how to get her on her own. I considered just tossing the rest of them out, but as Paul and Rachel lived here, I couldn't exactly do that. Maybe I could offer to show her around, but being that she didn't live on the rez, that would be pointless.

Luckily, Paul came up with a solution. It was a nice day- for La Push, anyway- so why didn't we head down to First Beach? Some of the kids from Forks might show up and Olivia could promote her orchestra. Olivia grinned at him and huffed that her orchestra would build itself and it didn't need promoting.

We went to First Beach anyway.

"So you're a teacher, too?"

I was suddenly aware that Olivia was talking to me, but I didn't remember when everyone else had wandered off, leaving me alone with her. We were sitting on one of the logs that surrounded the fire pit, driftwood burning halfheartedly in front of us. The day was overcast- no surprise there- but the weather wasn't as chilly as it normally is. The temperature was hovering around sixty, but I wasn't cold. In fact, I wore only shorts and a T-shirt; no shoes on these feet. "Oh, yeah," I finally said, attempting to smile at her, but getting lost in her eyes again. I forced myself to look away, wondering vaguely who had told her I'm a teacher. "I teach history at the school here on the rez. I got a partial scholarship and the council paid for the rest as long as I promised to come back after school. Anyway, I'm sorta tied."

She nodded. "I think it's nice," she said. "I mean, you know, going off to college and bringing your knowledge back to your own people. I'd do it, too, but my people already know a lot about music. I come from a very... musical family," she added with a cryptic smile.

I grinned at her. "Musical," I repeated. "You ever heard a Native's idea of music?"

"All that drum banging and wailing?" she asked. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I was working on a Symphony that experimented with some of it."

"A Symphony of Native music?"

"Yeah, sorta," she replied. "It was a sort of neo-romantic thing with the drums and wailing in the background. I should work on it some more. I also had a suite that used Digeridos and a Piano Concerto with bagpipe accompaniment. I actually finished that one, though, for my senior project. It's pretty wild."

"I think I'd like to hear that," I said.

Her eyebrows scrunched in a way that made her lovely face even more appealing and I felt a wide grin stretch across my face that she quickly echoed. "Really?" she said, surprised. "Nobody ever wants to hear my strange experiments, no matter how well they work."

I shrugged. How could I explain that I'd do whatever she needed me to do when I'd only just met her an hour ago? "It sounds interesting," I said lamely.

She laughed her lovely, warm, bubbly chuckle. "All right, then," she said. "We recorded my senior recital, I'll see if I can dig it out of whatever box it's in. I really SHOULD be unpacking." She shook her head, looking weary. "I loath unpacking," she added.

"I could give you hand, if you like," I offered without thinking.

She looked at me suspiciously. "If you're trying butter me up to get a date or something, you should know, it's working," she said.

I grinned at her, feeling my face go a bit warm. I was glad I was dark-skinned. The blush wouldn't show. Well, no sense hiding it now. "Am I that obvious?" I asked.

She grinned back, blushing prettily. "Not to a normal human being," she admitted. "So, are you going to ask me?"

I shrugged. What the heck. "Tomorrow, after I help you unpack, can I make you dinner?" I asked. "I'm a pretty damn good cook."

"I think I'd like that," she said. "I've never had a man cook for me before. But, you don't have to help me unpack just to get a date."

"No, it's okay," I told her. "I don't mind. Besides, that means I get to spend all day with you instead of just a few measly hours."

"And what if you discover you don't like me?" she asked.

"Impossible!" I declared. "I already like you. What's not to like?"

"Okay," she said. "Fine. But, what if we start unpacking and you suddenly discover I'm petty and vain? Or, worse yet, demanding and shrewish? Then, you're stuck with me for the rest of the day AND you have to make dinner for me."

"Are you petty, vain, demanding and shrewish?" I asked doubtfully.

"No."

"Okay, then."

She studied me for awhile. "Well, if you're sure."

"I am."

She grinned and looked out across the waves, seemingly out of things to say.

"Hey, wanna take a walk up to the tidal pools?" I offered. "There's all sorts of stuff living in them- anemones and corals and little crabs and snails and things."

"Okay," she said, standing.

I automatically reached for her hand as I stood next to her, but to my disappointment, she pulled away. "Sorry," she said and it sounded like she meant it. "It's just..."

"Too soon?" I supplied, feeling only slightly hurt.

"Yeah."

"It's okay," I told her. "It's a sort of... Native thing. Kinda chauvinistic. You know, hold onto the girl and protect her and all that."

To my surprise she reached over and took my hand. "In that case..." she said, smiling up at me.

I grinned. I couldn't help it. "You like chauvinism?" I asked as we started walking.

She shrugged. "I don't mind being protected," she said. "I don't NEED it, but I don't mind."

"What makes you think you don't need it?" I asked.

She laughed. I melted. "I'm probably tougher than you," she said.

It was my turn to laugh. "I doubt it," I said.

"Just wait."

"What are you, like, a black belt in Karate?"

"Something like that," she said cryptically.

"I'll wrestle you," I said, grinning sideways at her.

She laughed again. I melted again. "That would be more unfair than I can tell you," she said. "I've got several years on you."

"Only four," I pointed out. Rachel was only four years older than me, after all, and if Olivia had gone to school with Rachel, she could hardly be much older than her.

"Well," she hedged. "I'm quite a bit older than Rachel."

"How much?" I asked.

"A lot," she replied. "I'm older than I look."

"What, like, 35?" I asked.

She just smiled at me. "So where are these tidal pools?" she asked.

I really wanted to know how old she was, but apparently the imprinting wouldn't allow me to press the matter. "Not far," I told her.

On the way to the pools, we continued chatting about everything from music to family to sports. It turned out she was a HUGE baseball fan, as was nearly everyone in her family, which was quite large. She mentioned many brothers by name and as well as a couple of sisters.

"How often do you get to see them?" I asked her.

"No often enough," she said. "Most of them live in Europe, but Bradoch is in Australia and Sophie's doing medical missionary work in Africa."

"Are you from Europe?" I asked. I couldn't detect an accent.

"That I am," she said, lapsing into a Irish brogue. "Grew up in Ireland, came to the states as an exchange student." She switched off the brogue like it was on a button. "Been here ever since. I worked to get rid of that accent. It's almost second nature to me, now."

"I like the accent," I told her. "We don't get many Irish girls here."

"I can imagine," she said, a wistful look in her eyes.

"Do you miss Ireland?" I asked.

"Not Ireland so much as my family," she replied. "In fact, this area is VERY Irish. It rains all the time and is too green and there's lots of hills and cliffs. It reminds me of Ireland. Now, if I could only find the right road that leads to that old castle of my parents'..."

I stopped suddenly. Olivia took two more steps before my hand- still holding tightly to hers- halted her progress. "Your parents live in a CASTLE?" I asked, taken completely by surprise.

"Well, yeah," she said, attempting to sound nonchalant. "It's not a very big one, but it's been in the family since the days of feudalism. Dad gets a tax incentive to keep it in livable condition. It's something they do in Ireland, to preserve history and all that. It used to be just a summer place, but they've started living there permanently so they can fix things as they happen. Come on, Embry, it's not that big a deal," she said, her face going deliberately blasé.

"Feudalism?" I asked, a grin breaking onto my face. "So your family's, like, Dukes or something?"

"Barons, I think," she said, waving it off. "but it doesn't matter. It doesn't mean anything anymore. Now, come on! I want to see these tidal pools, already."

I obliged by walking with her again. This whole imprinting thing was getting really weird. Any other person I could have refused, but not Olivia. Still, I was interested in her family now. "So this castle," I said, pressing the subject. "They've got it all fixed up nice?"

"Yeah," she said. "The part they live in is pretty modern, but the rest is kept historically accurate. They have guided tours and a gift shop and you can have tea with the 'Baroness'- my mother in costume- for five pounds- that's about $9.50 American. Reservations required. It's a nice little business for dad's retirement. We pitch in when we're home." I took 'we' to mean her brothers and sisters and her.

"I'd love to see that," I said and was surprised to discover that I really meant it and it wasn't just the imprinting talking.

"Play your cards right and maybe some day I'll take you," she said with a sly grin.

My face exploded in a huge grin at the thought of going anywhere with her. "That would be great," I told her.

She glanced up at my face, curious, and blushed prettily.

I felt the heat come to my face, too, but luckily, we'd arrived at the first of the tidal pools so I was spared the agony of trying to find something to hide the blush.

Olivia was fearless, reaching fingers in to poke the anemones and brush her hands lightly over the chorals and pick up the little crabs. She found a hermit crab and dubbed him Kermit the Hermit and played with him for nearly an hour before deciding to let him go. Hermit crabs are notoriously friendly, though, so I don't think he minded the company much. She followed me as I leaped across the pools and eyed me warily at one that she felt was a bit too far for her. I convinced her to try it, though, and she finally jumped. I had to catch her to keep her from falling over backwards and she laughed in exhilaration. Oh, God, how I love that laugh.

"You okay?" she asked, the laughter still in her eyes.

"Yeah," I said, forcing the dreaminess out of my face. "Just... well, you have a great laugh."

She laughed again, blushing lightly. "Thanks, I think," she said, ducking her head.

I grinned at her and hooked one finger under her chin to tilt it up. "It was a compliment," I told her. "You have no idea the sort of things that laugh can do to a man."

Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth curled up in an amused smile. "Really," she said in a satisfied sort of tone. "In that case, I shall have to laugh more often." And she laughed again.

"Mmm," I sighed, eyes closed. "Intoxicating."

"Great, now you're drunk," she said halfheartedly.

My eyes snapped open to see her grinning up at me, my finger still hooked under her chin. I moved my hand to brush a lock of her hair out of her eyes, but it sprang right back into place. "Doesn't that bother you?" I asked to cover up any awkwardness.

"A bit," she shrugged. "It's been doing that for years, though. I've sort of gotten used to it."

"How many years?" I asked, trying to catch her off guard to get an idea of her age.

"Enough," she answered shrewdly, eyes narrowing and one corner of her mouth tugging upwards slightly.

"Can't you tell me how old you are?" I asked, feeling my eyebrows contract.

"You wouldn't believe it," she replied. "Maybe- maybe some day, if you stick around, I'll tell you. For now, though, no, I cannot."

"Why not?" I demanded.

"It's... unbelievable," she said darkly.

I huffed out a laugh. "I've had my share of unbelievable," I told her. "Try me."

She gave me an irritated look. "You couldn't have just kissed me a minute ago and forgot all this, could you?" she asked.

I blinked several times in surprise. "I... thought you wouldn't be comfortable with that," I explained stupidly.

"I wouldn't have been, but it would be better than this line of questioning," she said. "Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to ask a lady's age?"

Oh, no. There was a sudden pain in my chest as I realized I'd made her angry and possibly hurt her at the same time. I'd heard about this end of imprinting from Quil who'd promised his Claire to take her to the park and been unable to make it. He'd called to let her know that a family emergency had come up, but she was still disappointed. The next time he'd seen her, he'd had this same pain upon realizing she'd been hurt.

It killed me. I felt my face crumble and I reached out to brush the side of her face lightly with the back of my hand. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice wavering slightly. "I didn't mean... I mean, I'm just curious and you're so secretive and... God, Olivia, I'm sorry!"

I watched as shock and surprise warred on her face. Finally, concern overtook them both and she reached up to take the hand that was still brushing at her face. "Embry, it's okay," she said earnestly. "Really, it's not THAT big a deal."

I breathed a sigh of relief and the pain in my chest lifted, allowing me to smile weakly at her. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said reassuringly. "Geez, Embry, I'd hate to see what you'd do if you ever REALLY hurt me."

My eyes went big and I felt the weak smile slide off my face. "Oh, god, don't say that," I begged. "I don't EVER want to do that."

"Okay, okay!" she said quickly. "Relax, really. Geez. More guys should be like you. Oh, heck, more PEOPLE should be like you- women included. Maybe then we'd have fewer problems in the world."

I couldn't help it, then. I pulled her into my arms and just held her to my chest, eyes closed. "You're not angry?" I asked her.

"No," she said, "but you're crushing me, Embry."

"Sorry!" I said, quickly pulling away.

The sudden motion threw her off balance and I reached out to catch her, but, more quickly that she should have been able to, she righted herself. I felt my eyebrows contract again, my arm half extended to catch her. "I've only seen- a few people move that quickly," I said. I'd very nearly said 'Vampires' instead of 'a few people,' but had caught myself at the last second.

Her eyes snapped up to look at me in alarm, then they narrowed suspiciously. "Who?" she asked, her voice carefully neutral.

I studied her face for awhile. She seemed almost to be trying to read my thoughts, but I was sure she couldn't do that. "Just some friends," I answered, trying to sound offhand about it.

She looked for a moment as if she might press the matter, but luckily, I heard Quil approach with Claire just then and she turned towards the sound at the same time I did. Claire was talking excitedly to Quil, both just out of sight around an outcropping of rocky cliff and for a moment, I wondered how an ordinary human could have heard them. They were only just in earshot for me. Surely she couldn't hear them already.

"Never mind," she said and when I looked at her, her face was once again cheerful. "It sounds like somebody's on their way over here. Company!" And she started towards the sound, stepping around the little tidal pools.

She looked VERY good from this angle. I had to close my eyes and think about golf for a moment before following after her gorgeous form. Geez, I'd never had to think about golf with any other girl, but Veejay Singh did wonders to quell the thoughts running through my head just then. He has absolutely NO sex appeal.

"Hi, Uncle Embry!" cried Claire as they came into view. She ran towards me, arms reaching up even before she was 50 feet away, and launched herself into my arms.

"Hi, Claire," I said to her. "As if you didn't see me just an hour ago."

She laughed and kissed my cheek, then squirmed to be let down. "My Quil is taking me to the tidal pools!" she said, dancing around excitedly as if she'd never been there before.

"We were just there," said Olivia, a faint smile on her face. "There's a very jovial Hermit crab there who likes to play games."

"What's jovial mean?" asked Claire, wrinkling her brow.

"It means jolly," answered Quil, finally catching up to her and ruffling her hair. "Like Santa Claus."

"Does his belly jiggle like a bowl full of jelly?" she asked doubtfully.

"He doesn't have a belly," said Quil. "He's a crab."

"Crabs got bellies!" insisted Claire, dancing around again. "Don't they, Olivia?"

"Sure they do," answered Olivia, a slight grin on her face. "But you can't see them because they're all covered up in a hard shell."

"See?" said Claire, sticking out her tongue at Quil.

Quil grinned and ruffled her hair again. "All right," he said. "You win."

"Come on, Quil!" said Claire suddenly, tugging on his arm. "Let's go before the crab goes away!"

Quil gave us a slight wave and disappeared around the cliff with Claire.

"They're close," said Olivia, though it sounded almost like a question. "Is she his niece or something?"

"No," I replied, struggling to come up with an explanation I could give her. "He's sort of like a nanny to her. Kind of a stand-in older brother."

She grinned at me, looking slightly wistful. "I could use a stand-in older brother, sometimes," she said. "Or maybe just a white knight."

"Could you settle for a red knight?" I asked, giving her a sly sideways glance.

She looked a bit confused, then seemed to grasp the connection. "Okay, that was really bad," she moaned. "Besides, you're not that red. More creamy bronze."

"Okay, then. A creamy bronze knight."

She laughed, making me melt yet again. "You can be my creamy bronze knight," she allowed, leaning her head against my shoulder as she reached her arms around me and hugged me. "Thanks," she said. "I needed that."

I was beginning to suspect that Veejay Singh's lack of sex appeal was going to get me through a lot of situations like this. "N-needed what?" I stammered, resting one arm around her shoulders and the other on top of her head.

"Someone to care," she said, pulling away much too soon; I didn't try to stop her, but I wanted to very badly. "I haven't had anyone care for years."

"What about your parents?"

"They don't count."

"I see."

I did, too. It wasn't the same with parents- they always cared. My mother had been worried I'd joined a gang or something when I first joined the pack. She would yell and cry and worry and yell some more, but I just kept doing what I had to do to protect her. I couldn't tell her exactly what was going on, but when I went off to college, she hoped it would reform me. I pretended that it had when I came back. I let her think I was her good Embry again and she was deliriously happy about it. She hadn't wanted me to leave her, but I bought a house anyway- just a small one with one bedroom, bathroom and a sort of kitchen/living room combination. It was enough for me.

But, my mother would always care about me. She would always worry about me and always bring me a hot dinner every Tuesday night when I got home from teaching. I could always count on mom to care. But, having someone else care- like my pack brothers and sister- was something else entirely different.

"It looks like everyone's heading to the tidal pools, now," she said. "Or else they all want to see you. Or me. Or both of us."

I looked up to see that just about everyone else was heading this way; Kim and Jared must have left. Being at the beach while six months pregnant can't be all that much fun. Leah was giving me a look that said quite clearly, 'aren't you forgetting something' and I abruptly remembered my patrol was supposed to start ten minutes ago. "Damn," I said. "Look, Olivia, I have to... I promised my mother I'd help her move some furniture. I was supposed to be there awhile ago. Will you be okay with the others?"

"Sure," she said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it," I said, backing away. "I'll get your number from Rachel later. I gotta go!"

She grinned and waved me off.

I hurried back towards the road and jogged a good distance down before heading into the trees and tying my clothes to my leg. I changed quickly and was immediately aware of Collin's presence.

_What took you so long?_ He asked. _You missed all the action!_

_ What action? _I snorted.

_There was a coyote!_ Collin informed me. _He ran right in front of me. I chased him for awhile, but then Jake yelled at me._

_ Jake was here? _I asked.

_Yeah, _said Collin. _He'll be back in a bit. He was looking for you. You gonna tell him about Olivia?_ He added, a teasing note to his voice.

_ Collin,_ I warned.

_Embry and Olivia sittin' in a tree! _He teased in a sing-song voice. _K-I-S-S-I-N-_

_ Collin!_

Jake had joined us.

_Sorry boss,_ said Collin.

_Hey, Jake, _I said. _Where are you guys at now?_

_ Florida, temporarily, _Jake said. _ Bella finally got Edward to loosen up. He's letting Nessie and me get married._

_ That's freaky, _said Collin._ She's, like, eight years old._

_ Just wait 'til you see her! _Said Jake, his voice brimming with pride. _ She could pass for 25._

_ That's awesome, Jake, _I congratulated him._ When will you be coming back?_

_ Soon, I think, _he said. _ Bella's feeling a pull to come back. She says she thinks something major's gonna happen, but she can't see what._

_ Did she consult with Alice?_

_ Alice agrees, but she can't see either, _he said._ Anyway, that's what I wanted- _He stopped suddenly and I hesitated in mid step. I'd just had a sudden thought of Olivia. No doubt Jake had heard it_. Embry, _he said._ Is this just a girl or..._

I sighed mentally. _I imprinted, _I said.

There was a stunned silence from Jake, then a mental howl of exultation. _That's awesome, Embry!_ He said.

_That's what I was teasing him about when you showed up,_ said Collin.

_Yeah, and you'll be next because of it, _I growled at him.

_Okay, okay, _said Jake. _Embry imprinted, Collin's next and here's what's going on. Nessie's worried her dad will change his mind, so she wants to get married right away, which is why we're in Florida. We're going to the courthouse tomorrow. Don't worry, we'll have a proper wedding when we get back- dad and Rachel would kill me if we didn't. Anyway, once that's done, we have to meet up with Bella and Edward in Peru. We're hoping to be back to La Push in a couple of months. I thought I'd give you the heads up about something possibly happening up there. Keep your eyes open._

_ You got it, _I said. _ Hey, there's a new family living in Hoquiam- they sorta look like they could be Vampires, but they don't smell quite like it. You don't suppose they could be causing trouble, do you?_

There was a long pause on Jake's end and we could tell he was carefully schooling his thoughts. _Probably not,_ he said finally. _But, we'll tell you about them when we get there, okay? Leave them alone for now- they're the good guys._

_Jake, you know them?_

_ Yeah, I do, _he said._ We'll explain that in person, but they're extra special- like Bella._

We didn't even have the whole story on Bella, yet. All we knew was that she'd picked up on the Cullens' special abilities; she could read minds and see the future now.

_Okay, _I answered hesitantly. _Hurry back, okay?_

_We will._ And he was gone.

_Oh, we got Trouble!_ Said Collin. _Right here in River City. With a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool!_

_ Can it Collin, _I said.

_Yes, sir! _Said Collin, sending me a picture of him saluting.

He was right, though. If Jake had seen fit to contact us about Bella's odd feeling that something was going to go wrong, it was serious. We'd have to watch closely for awhile.


	2. Fair Weather

That patrol was a long one. Collin kept up a constant stream of teasing about Olivia, but I took it all happily; It meant that I had a REASON to be teased. I remembered the good natured razzing we'd given other members of the pack as they'd imprinted- Leah had enjoyed it the most, oddly enough- and realized that I'd been envious of them. Now that I had a reason to be teased, I was feeling oddly smug.

It wasn't until the very end of the patrol that Collin brought up something I hadn't thought of before.

_You'll get to tell her, you know,_ he said. _Next time you see her, if you like._

Stunned by that realization, I halted at once. I'd dated two other girls, but they'd both realized I was hiding something after only a few weeks and had split when I told them I couldn't tell them what it was, thinking that I just WOULDN'T tell them. I suppose I could see their point. It probably looked as if I were seeing someone else behind their backs.

But, of course it would be different with Olivia. I could be completely honest with her from the beginning. I could tell her everything. We were only allowed to tell the object of our imprinting what we are, but it was enough. I would have someone to talk to when things got rough and she would understand just as fully as my brothers do- not at first, but after a few years.

_You're right, I can, _I said.

_Hey, guys, _said Leah almost as soon as she'd transformed. She seemed distracted.

_Hey, Leah,_ I said. _What's up? You sound… off._

_ It's… nothing, _said Leah, sounding disgruntled. She couldn't stop the images from flashing across her mind, though, and they were images we really didn't want to see.

_OH!_ exclaimed Collin, mentally cringing. _We didn't need to KNOW that!_

_ Sorry! _said Leah, embarrassed._ It's just… weird lately. I don't know why I'm like this._

_ Probably because Bradon's a great guy, _I told her. _ He adores you and you adore him. It's normal._

_ Oh? _said Leah._ And do YOU feel this way about Olivia?_

_ I just met her! _I defended. _ There's a difference._

_ Mmm, _said Leah, still disgruntled. _ Anyway, Collin, I'm relieving you. Quil will be around in a minute to let you off, Embry._

_ Right-o, Boss! _said Collin. He disappeared from our minds.

_ Oh, by the way, Jake dropped in, _I said. Quickly, I related his message.

_And he DOESN'T think it's the new family in Hoquiam? _she asked doubtfully.

_Definitely not,_ I said. _He said he'd explain about them when he got here. They're expecting to be back in a couple of months, _ I added before she could ask.

Leah's mind flitted back to Bradon for half a second before she forced herself to think about the trouble Jake had mentioned. _Wish I knew what was up,_ she said.

_He'd tell us if he knew, _I told her.

_I know,_ she said.

Quil popped in then. _Hey, buddy, I got it,_ he said. _Oh, EW! Leah!_

_ Sorry!_

Leah's mind had settled on those earlier thoughts. I chuckled. _ Have fun with that Quil, _I said, starting for home.

_You mean I've gotta listen to THIS the whole night?_ Quil demanded of Leah. _Oh, man!_

I laughed and changed back as I neared home. I had neighbors to worry about, so I always changed back well before I got near my house and put some clothes back on. Most of us had taken to tying clothes to our legs like Jake had, so I always had some with me. I strode towards my house on two legs, wearing the same shorts and T-shirt I'd worn earlier.

"Oh, you're insane, Mr. Call!"

I turned to see one of the neighbor girls- also one of my students- dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and turtle neck sweater gathering the mail from the mailbox. "Hello, Miss Cloutier," I called to her.

"Aren't you COLD?" she asked, gaping at me.

"I never get cold," I told her. "Besides, it's gotta be, what, 54?"

She shook her head and continued on her way back inside.

I grinned and hurried to my front door. It was unlocked. I glanced at the driveway and saw mom's car in it. Oh, great. Mom. "Hi, mom!" I called as I opened the door.

I'd bought a house a couple of years ago, mostly because it was really hard keeping this secret from mom and partly because I didn't want to freak out with her around and take off half her face or something. She had a key and came over a lot to bring me dinner or to clean up. Both are completely unnecessary, but I let her get on with it anyway. It makes her happy.

"Oh, Embry, there you are!" she said from the kitchen. "I've brought you a casserole. It's in the oven. And I'm nearly finished with the dishes."

"Mom, you don't have to do that," I told her, coming into the kitchen to see her standing at the sink, washing away.

"Oh, never mind," she said. "I miss having you around at home. Besides, if I make a casserole, there's too much for me. It'll all go to waste."

"Thanks, mom," I said, kissing her cheek as I passed her on my way to the oven.

"No shoes again?" she demanded, staring at my feet. "You'll get frostbite out there!"

"It's not cold enough for frostbite," I said, using hot pads to take the plate from the oven. "And anyway, I'm never cold, remember?"

"You could probably fry an egg on your forehead," she said, rinsing another sinkful of dishes. "I don't know how your skin can be so hot and yet, you don't have a fever. Oh, I cleaned your bathroom, too, today. You really need a woman to look after you, Embry. I won't be around forever, you know."

I just grinned to myself, not really listening much past the "you need a woman" comment. (I had passed over the "no fever" comment easily; I learned tricks to make sure any thermometer my mother made me put in my mouth always said my temperature was normal.) My mind was suddenly elsewhere; in Ireland with Olivia, at dinner with Olivia, in my living room watching television with Olivia, in a million other places at once, all with Olivia.

"Embry!"

My head snapped up to see mom staring at me, her hands dripping soapy water all over the kitchen floor. "What?" I asked.

"I know that look," she said, eyes wide. "You've met someone, haven't you?"

I blinked. "What makes you say that?" I asked.

Mom clapped her hands together in front of her chest, looking exultant. "Oh, you have!" she exclaimed, grabbing a towel and wiping her hands as she sat in the chair across from me. "Tell me all about her! Do I know her? How long have you known her?"

I grinned, shaking my head. "Mom," I complained.

"Oh, just TELL me, Embry!" she insisted. "Let me live vicariously through you!"

I sighed. It would be easier just to tell her than to point out why exactly that statement was so weird. "All right," I said. "Her name's Olivia. You don't know her. She's a friend of Rachel's from college. And I only just met her this morning."

"What does she look like?" mom asked. "Is she pretty?"

"Of course she is," I said, hesitating. This is where it could get sticky. Well, mom had to know sooner or later, so let's just get it over with. "She's Irish- auburn hair and hazel eyes. Round face, tall, nice figure, WONDERFUL laugh," I added, remembering the effect that laugh had had on me. "She's really nice and very sweet- didn't even stare at Emily's scars. She's really great, mom. You'd love her." Maybe, if I talked her up a lot, mom would forget she was a pale face.

"Irish you say?" said mom.

Damn. She hadn't missed it. "Yeah," I said.

Mom sighed. "Oh, well, at least it's someone," she said, waving a hand in dismissal. "So tell me all about it! Where did you meet her? Have you asked her on a date, yet?"

"Wait," I said, brow wrinkling. "You don't care that she's not Quilleutte? Or at least some sort of Native?"

"Oh, it doesn't really matter, Embry," she said. "Sure, I'd prefer a nice Quilleutte girl, but if this is the one you want, well, then, that's that."

I stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. "But, what happened to all that stuff about sticking to one's own race?" I asked her.

"Let's face it, Embry," she said, rolling her eyes. "That's VERY unrealistic in these times. It would be wonderful if everyone could, but I just don't think it's possible. Now," she said, folding her dishtowel and setting it carefully before her. "Are you going to tell me all about her or not?"

I grinned. I didn't need much prodding to talk about Olivia.

The next morning, I called Rachel and got Olivia's number. Paul kept throwing snide remarks at the phone as Rachel was trying to talk to me, and I bore them in good humor. After all, it was only more teasing.

I had to try three times to dial her number correctly.

She answered on the fourth ring, sounding breathless. "Hello?"

"Olivia, it's Embry," I said.

"Oh, yeah! Hi, Embry!" she said.

"You still need help unpacking?" I asked.

"Definitely," she said, sounding frazzled. "I'll give you directions. Got a pen?"

I'd been to Forks enough that I knew the building she described. It was right on the main road, not far from Newton's store. "I can be there in twenty minutes," I told her.

"Great, then you can help me find my silverware," she said.

It took me a little less than 20 minutes to find her place. It was a huge white house that had been divided up into 6 apartments. Hers was number 4. I knocked on the door and as soon as I did, wished I'd brought some flowers or something. Well, never mind that now. It didn't matter.

A dog was barking someplace inside and I heard Olivia scold her- her name was Maggie- before heading to the door and throwing it open. "Hi, sorry about Maggie, she thinks everyone comes to see her," she said as the dog began jumping up and down in excitement. "No, Maggie, down!"

Maggie the Jack Russell Terrier ignored Olivia and kept jumping and barking at me.

"If you pet her and say hello, she'll calm down quicker," Olivia said.

"Hi, Maggie!" I said as I entered the house. "Come on, now, be good." I reached out a hand to pet her and she sat quickly, her little tail shaking her whole body as it wagged furiously back and forth. "There, that's better," I told her. As soon as I stopped petting her, she jumped up and sniffed all over my feet and legs, nudging her nose into my hands and sticking it anywhere she could reach.

"Do you have a dog?" asked Olivia.

"No," I said. "Why?"

"She's acting like she smells a dog on you," she said.

I didn't say anything, just watched the dog.

"Or, I don't know," said Olivia. "Maybe it's just because you're new."

"So, the silverware?" I said, ignoring Maggie as she sniffed my knees.

"Oh, right!" she said. "I found that. It's laying on the counter. I have one of those little separator things for the drawer, but I don't know where it is. I guess I shouldn't pack in a hurry."

"Why did you pack in a hurry?" I asked.

"Oh, I procrastinate," she said, off-handed. "Anyway, maybe if we just start opening boxes and putting stuff away as we come across it, that might be easier."

So, we started opening boxes. The first one I opened was full of dog toys, treats and a small dog bed. I called Maggie and she immediately began running through the house, dragging toys into every corner. Olivia just grinned and said that she'd never find them all again until it was time to move. I hid my fear that she might leave very well.

Well before dinner, we had the whole place set up fairly well. Olivia just had her clothes to put into her drawers and closet. I left her to do that and went to see what she had to work with in her kitchen.

I found some frozen chicken, dried cranberries, milk, French bread, a bunch of spices, several cans of mandarin oranges, white rice, hummus, fresh broccoli and orange juice. Not much to work with, but I thought I could avoid a trip to the supermarket. I immediately eliminated the milk- it wouldn't help much. In the end, I put three chicken breast halves into a baking dish with a can of the mandarin oranges, a handful of the dried cranberries and some orange juice and put it in the oven for about an hour. I'd cook up some of the rice and pour the juice and fruit over it. I got the broccoli ready for roasting- cut into large hunks on a cookie sheet, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt- and headed up to see how Olivia was doing.

"Oh, hi!" she said brightly when she spotted me leaning against her door jam. "Good thing I put away anything sensitive first. Do you need money for groceries or anything? I know I'm pretty low."

"No, there was enough to work with," I told her. "But, only just. I have no idea what you'll eat tomorrow."

She grinned at me. "Chinese take out, most likely," she said. "Unless there's nowhere good to get that around here in which case it'll be whatever I can find."

I smiled as I watched her hanging up a filmy red shirt and wondered what she looked like in it. "Mind if I join you?" I asked to cover up my previous thoughts. "For Chinese take outs, I mean."

She glanced up at me. "If you like, sure," she said with a grin. "As long as you're not sick of me by then."

"I'll never be sick of you."

She grinned at me and pulled another filmy shirt out of the box to hang up.

I wound up sitting on the bed, watching her hanging up many different styles of shirts, skirts and pants. She refolded about 50 sweaters and somehow fit them all into one side of her dresser; the other side was for lighter clothes. She was working on jeans when I left to check the chicken and put the broccoli in the oven and the rice on the stove.

Fifteen minutes later, as I was dishing the dinner onto plates, Olivia came down the stairs and commented on the smell. I confessed that I had no idea how it would taste because it was an experiment, but she didn't seem to mind. It was really good, if I do say so myself.

"That's it, you're hired," Olivia declared when the last bite had disappeared down her throat. "I wasn't taking applications for a cook, but you've got the job anyway."

I laughed. It wasn't quite the job I wanted, but I'd take it all the same. "It's really been a hobby up until now," I admitted. "But, I'd love to get paid for it."

She giggled as she started clearing the dishes from the table.

"Wait a minute," I told her. "I'll help you with that, but I have something I need to tell you first." I hadn't really meant to say it, but I was about to burst for wanting to tell her.

"Okay," she said, setting the plates in the sink and turning to face me. "What is it?

"It's… well, I guess it's more show you," I said. "Just promise not to freak out, okay? I won't hurt you."

"You won't…" she said, eyebrows scrunched down in an expression that was speculative and almost suspicious. "Embry what are you talking about?"

"Just remember that, okay?" I said, pulling my shirt off over my head. "I won't hurt you. And try not to scream."

"Embry what are you doing?" she demanded, covering her eyes with her hands as I started pulling off my shorts.

"I'm not ruining my clothes, okay?" I said, grinning. "No, you have to watch."

"I am NOT looking at you naked," she said. "At least not yet, anyway," she added in an undertone.

I laughed. The situation was sort of comical. She stood by the sink, hands covering her eyes and I stood across the kitchen from her, completely nude. "Okay," I said. "Compromise. You keep your hands up so you don't see anything you don't want to see, but you have to at least see my face. And maybe my chest, too. Okay?"

Hesitantly, she began moving her hands down slightly. Then, she moved one to a few inches in front of her face and she looked at me, eyes wary. "Okay," she said, turning a bit red. "Now, get on with it before a neighbor peers in the window and sees a naked man in my kitchen."

"Remember- I WON'T HURT YOU, okay?" I repeated. "No matter what, I will NEVER hurt you. Just remember that, okay? It's important."

"Okay," she said. "You won't hurt me. Got it."

I nodded encouragingly and smiled gently at her. Then, without another word, I began to shift.

I watched her carefully for some sign of emotion, but the vague stress on her face turned only to vague surprise mingled with an oddly exultant look. Those quickly gave way to speculation and wonder, which were replaced with a sort of stony acceptance. "Wow, Embry," she said and I could tell the surprise in her voice was very forced, almost as if she'd expected something like this. "That's really… uh…. Wow. Amazing."

My head cocked to one side and she laughed at me. "Sorry, you just look really cute that way," she said. "Sort of like a puppy. I guess that's why Maggie was sniffing you so much."

Sort of disappointed by her reaction, I began shifting back. She quickly turned around so as not to have to see me naked.

She didn't say anything for a long time. I redressed myself and started across the kitchen towards her. She turned as I reached up to place a hand on her shoulder. "You don't seem surprised," I said.

"I… I'm not," she admitted. "Not completely anyway. I suspected something like this, although I DID think you were extinct. It's good to know there are a few of you left."

I blinked, dumbfounded for several seconds. "You suspected?" I asked. "How? Did Rachel tell you about us?"

She smiled. "I think I knew about it before she did," she said. "Before she was born, actually. Likely before her many times great grandmother was born."

"Before…" I trailed off, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I… have a secret of the sort, too," she said finally. "Rachel doesn't know it. In fact, nobody knows it. Except my family. But, they have the same secret. It's… complicated."

I just stared at her, feeling my eyebrows scrunching even closer together of their own accord.

"Let me just get one thing straight, first," she said. "You've imprinted on me, haven't you?"

I blinked. "You know about imprinting?" I asked.

"I don't pretend to understand exactly how it works, but yeah, I know about it," she said.

"How do you-"

"Just answer, please, Embry," she said wearily. "If we have to keep stopping for more questions, we'll never get anywhere. Have you imprinted on me?"

I paused for a moment, thinking. She was right. Maybe I should just answer the question and then she'd explain. I hoped that would be how it worked. "Yeah," I said finally.

She nodded, looking resigned. "I thought so," she sighed. "All right, then. I'm going to show you something, too, okay? And I want YOU to remember that no matter what I do, I won't hurt you. Okay?"

"You won't hurt-"

"I said no questions!" she snapped, but she was smiling, perhaps to soften the blow. "I won't hurt you."

I nodded quickly.

"Okay," she said, placing both hands on my chest and pushing me away slightly. "Get back, then. I don't want this to spill or anything stupid like that."

I backed up three paces. "Here?" I asked.

"Maybe back by the table," she said, rolling up her sleeves to as close to her shoulders as they would go. "Just in case you need a chair."

I didn't ask, just went to stand by the table.

"Okay," she said with a huge sigh. "I won't hurt you." And then, she raised her hands, crossed at the wrist, to chest level and snapped them down.

And suddenly, I understood why she'd rolled her sleeves up so far. She hadn't wanted to burn them.

Her arms, from the elbows down, were consumed in flames.

I gasped, gaping at her.

With a little flick of her hands, the fire went out. She raised her left hand into the air and began swirling it around. At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, I was aware of little wispy strands of something coalescing into a clear crystal ball. Once she had a softball sized lump of it, she met my eyes, then picked the ball right out of the air. She concentrated on the crystal ball for awhile and it solidified and began to steam slightly, like ice taken from the freezer into a warm room. She crossed the kitchen and plunked it on the table. It WAS ice. The crystal ball had been water.

I was finding it hard to breath.

She smiled a smug little smile at me and then looked at the ground. I wasn't sure what was going on until the ground began to shake ever so slightly. Glasses rattled together in their cupboards and the silverware chinked in the drawer. A small earthquake.

I sat down.

She looked pointedly out the window where it was raining hard. A few moments of concentration and the rain stopped. She looked back at me, smug smile still in place.

"You… aren't from- from Ireland, are you?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Not originally, anyway."

"Can you do anything else?" I asked, still feeling numb.

"One more," she said. "I'll need to be a bit closer for this one, though. Do you mind?" she asked, pointing at me.

At first, I was confused. I didn't know what she meant. But, then, without waiting for an answer, she sat in my lap and wrapped her arms around me. "Sorry, but you won't see it if we're not touching," she said. "Watch." She concentrated on the window again and it started raining. Then, almost imperceptibly, the rain slowed. But, not like normal slow rain. It was more as if time were slowing down. The large droplets no longer pelted out of the sky, but drifted down lazily, like snowflakes. They continued to slow until I could watch the progress of each droplet as it slowly lowered itself to the ground, taking a full minute to pass the window.

One droplet hit the window in a slow-motion splash and I watched as it slowly grew seven little legs- it moved so slow I could actually count them- and each of the legs gradually broke apart and continued on their way down the window.

A fly entered my line of sight, just in front of the two of us, ambling very slowly across our vision. His wings moved so slowly, I could see exactly how they moved.

As the fly meandered lazily on his path, I finally found my voice. "What are you?" I asked.

She gave me that smug little smile again. "I'm a faerie," she said.


	3. Demands

I stared at her for a long time. Gradually, I became aware that the rain was falling normally again, though Olivia had not moved so much as a millimeter. She still sat in my lap and her arms were still about me. I blinked slowly at her. "You're a..." I started.

"Faerie," she repeated. "Some call us The Fey, others call us Fair Folk and still others call us The Immortals. It's all the same. We're human-like beings with a certain set of what seem to be magical powers, each one slightly different."

"Can all of you do that?" I asked numbly, indicating the ball of ice that was starting to melt on her kitchen table.

"No," she said. "I'm a rarity. Do you know what an elemental is?"

I shook my head.

"An elemental can manipulate one of the four elements: wind, water, fire or earth," she said, ticking each one off on her fingers. "A full elemental can manipulate all of them. A complete elemental can not only manipulate all of them, but can also generate them at will. When wind is expanded to all weather and time is added, that person is called a Whole Elemental. We're very rare.

"There are things all of us can do. We all heal very quickly. So quickly that you can actually watch a cut or scrape knit back together, turn into a scar and quickly return to an unblemished state in a matter of seconds. Bullet wounds will spit the bullet out of our bodies in less than a second. You should see what it takes to get these earrings to stay in," she added, indicating the three silver balls and one silver hoop she wore in each ear. "We can change our appearance at will- I've done it so many times, I don't think I completely remember what I look like naturally. We also all have a sort of intuition about another beings we come across. I instantly know weremen- like you- werewolves, Elders and Vampires-" I was startled at the venom in her voice on that word "-when I see them."

"Are there any other fictitious creatures in the world?" I asked weakly, half to myself.

She smiled and leaned her forehead against mine. "No, Embry," she said. "That's all there is."

I gazed into her eyes, so close to mine I could see that they weren't just hazel, but they contained flecks of silver, gold and even a startling reddish color that would have looked great on a fire engine or a Ferrari. "You're not Irish," I repeated.

"African, actually," she replied. "But, I'm playing Caucasian this time, so I had to have a good story. Plus, the Seelie and Unseelie courts have moved to Ireland recently. Well, I think it's recent, but you wouldn't; it happened almost 500 years ago."

"What's Seelie and Unseelie?" I asked.

"The Seelie court is concerned with all things light and beautiful," she explained. "That's where I belong. The Unseelie court is concerned with all things dark and ugly."

"So... good and evil?"

"Not necessarily," she said, sitting up straight again. "The night is dark, but not evil. Bullfrogs are ugly, but not evil. And, conversely, swans are beautiful, but they ARE evil. Dratted things are so violently aggressive that they kill all sorts of creatures and destroy ecosystems. I sure wish the environmentalists would get on them, but no matter how loud we scream about the dangers of swans, we're ignored. People just don't want to equate beauty with evil."

I was grinning by the end of her little anti-swan speech. I couldn't help it. It was just too strange to think of swans as causing trouble. "Yeah," I said. "It doesn't really fit."

She sighed. "See, that's how everyone reacts," she said.

I forced myself to stop grinning. "Oh, right, dangerous swans, yes," I said, trying to sound convincing.

"Don't patronize me," she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

I laughed and she grinned back at me. "So, when you said you're quite a bit older than Rachel..." I prompted.

"I meant QUITE a bit," she replied.

"Like, centuries?"

"More like Millenia."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

I just stared at her for awhile and she just stared back. "You're a faerie," I said finally, my voice very soft.

"Yes," she said. "And you're a wereman."

"Yeah," I said. I liked the term- it was softer than werewolf. "And I've imprinted on you."

"I know," she sighed. "That was very dangerous."

"Was it?"

She nodded. "The Fey have dangerous enemies," she said cryptically.

"I'll take my chances," I told her, encircling her waist with my arms.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking wary.

I chuckled. "I don't have much choice," I said.

She gave me a sad little smile. "You would fight for me?" she asked.

"I would kill for you," I promised, drawing her closer.

"You might have to," she said.

"I've killed before," I said.

"Have you?" She looked surprised.

I nodded. "A vampire who got too close to a friend," I told her. The actual story was longer than that, though. It had been a friend of a friend, actually, and that friend of a friend was now one of them. We had a treaty with her coven, though, and we'd actually become friends with a few of them. However, given the way she'd spat the word 'vampires' earlier, I didn't think it would be wise to mention that.

She smiled, looking smug again. "Served it right," she said venomously.

I reached one hand up to push the hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, he asked for it," I said, drawing her closer with my other arm.

"Embry?"

"Hm?"

"Are you trying to start something?"

"No."

"Liar."

"I'm just trying to kiss you."

"That's starting something."

"No it's not."

"It is."

"No, it's just me kissing you, that's all."

"Which could potentially start something."

"Could," I finally admitted. "But probably won't."

"Probably not."

She let me pull her closer. In fact, she moved of her own free will until our noses touched. I shifted slightly and kissed the end of her nose, then her chin and finally, the corner of her mouth. I could feel the muscles in her cheeks pull her lips into a smile as I finally pressed my lips to hers.

She pulled away too soon, but I didn't try to stop her. "The Fey don't do things this quickly," she said softly.

"Sorry," I said.

"It's okay," she said. "You're mortal. You don't have time to be traditional."

"What's traditional?" I asked.

"At least twenty years," she replied.

"Twenty years before a kiss?" I asked, astounded.

"Usually," she said. "And a further twenty before we settle on a mate."

"Forty?"

"At least," she said, grinning at my expression. "But, I won't make you wait 40 years."

"Promise?"

She leaned forward and kissed me again. "I promise," she said. She laid her head on my shoulder then and I wrapped my arms tighter around her, inhaling her scent- lilacs and strawberry jam and peppermints with an earthy undertone that spoke of damp earth after a thunderstorm. Her nose nuzzled into my neck, making me shiver. She laughed softly.

"That tickles," I told her, nuzzling her back.

"Sorry," she said, pulling away.

"I didn't say stop!"

"I would really love to stay here all night, Embry, but my kitchen is a mess," she said, trying to extricate herself from my arms. "I really need to clean it up before the insects take over. Embry!" she exclaimed when I wouldn't let go of her.

"Oh, all right," I sighed, letting go of her.

She stood up, laughing, and pulled me off the chair and into her arms. "At least you get to spend more time with me, right?" she said, linking her arms around my neck.

I gave her a lopsided grin and kissed her once more. "I can think of several things I'd rather do with you than the dishes," I told her, leaning my forehead against hers.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned a little pink. "Yeah, well, maybe in a few months, okay?" she said, pulling away. "For now, the dishes."

Months?

Did she really say months? MONTHS? Dear God, I didn't know if I could take it. One month, sure, no problem. Two, okay, maybe. But, any more than that and I might go insane! MONTHS?

"You okay, Embry?"

I glanced up to see her standing by the kitchen sink, a towel slung over her shoulder and the hot water running into the sink behind her. She looked concerned and I wondered what sort of pained expression had come across my features to make her so worried. "I'm- I'm okay," I said in a strained voice. I tried to force it back to a normal sound. "Just thinking too hard." Okay, so I'm no good at taming my voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked, brow wrinkling. "Did I say something to offend you?"

"No," I said, shaking my head quickly. "No, it's just… months…. I don't know."

She blinked at me, the concern on her face quickly changing to confusion. "You… think you might change your mind?" she asked, sounding only vaguely interested. It suddenly struck me how little emotion their was in her voice whenever she spoke. It wasn't just now, it was all the time. I thought back to the first time I'd seen her. She'd been hugging Rachel and smiling, but there'd been a reserve to her eyes even while they twinkled, something that held back from emotion. It distracted me from her question for a minute.

"No," I assured her quickly. "I meant… I meant that I don't know if I can wait."

"Oh," she said, going pink. "You'll have to. The Fey CERTAINLY don't rush that." She offered no more information on the subject.

"I'll wait, then," I promised. "I'll do anything you ask."

"You'd better be careful," she said, turning to the sink with a grin. "The Fey have some pretty tall orders. You could end up battling a Minotaur for me."

"I thought you said there weren't any more fictitious creatures," I pointed out.

"That wouldn't stop me from asking you to do it and finding one for you to battle," she said. "There are Faeries even more powerful than me. I suppose one could conjure up a Minotaur if I had a good enough reason for needing one."

I crossed the kitchen, took the towel off her shoulder and started drying her dishes as she put them in the rack. "Weremen can be demanding, too," I told her. "For instance, I demand that you let me wait on you hand and foot and let me do whatever makes you happy, from now until I die."

She whistled. "Damn, you are demanding," she said. "I'm not so sure I can do that, but I'll try. You can start by finding out what my favorite song is and requesting it on the radio when you know I'll be driving home and meeting me at the door with a bouquet of wild flowers that you picked on the side of the highway on your way over here and brushing my hair while we watch my favorite movie- you'll have to find that out, too."

I laughed. "So what's your favorite song and favorite movie?" I asked.

"You would be surprised how many men refuse to ask that and think they have to do some sleuthing around to find the answer," she replied , rinsing a sinkful of glasses and adding them to the rack. "They're King Without a Crown by Matisyahu and Zoom. Don't forget!"

"I won't," I promised. "So who's Matisyahu?"

With a wicked grin, she hurried to the next room, where her stereo sat on a shelf and put in a CD. She came back to the kitchen with the case as Reggae music filled the room. "This is Matisyahu," she said, holding up the case for me to see. "I'm not usually a fan of Reggae, but he's a Hasidic Jew, so that makes it REALLY cool."

On the cover of the CD was Matisyahu himself- a white man with a full beard that hung almost to his chest and a Yakima on top of his head. He was dressed in a Beatles style suit- no collar or lapels on the jacket- and untucked white button down shirt. The music did not fit his look, but somehow, the contrast made it very cool. "Wild," I said.

"Yeah, I know," she said, resuming the chore of washing dishes. "He's awesome."

We finished quickly- there weren't many dishes- and she forced me into the living room to watch Zoom with her. It was pretty funny. Tim Allen plays a washed up super hero charged with training the next generation of super heroes and near the end, he's running about 100 miles an hour, trips on something and goes tumbling head over heals, over and over for about a mile. Olivia laughed really hard even though she'd seen it about a million times before. Her laughter made me laugh even harder.

When the movie was over, we just sat there talking for a long time. Her phone ringing interrupted us. "Hang on," she said. "It's Rachel. Hi, Rachel," she said as she flipped the phone open.

My ears were good enough to hear Rachel's response. "Is Embry still there?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"Gah!" said Rachel. "Cuz I wanted to hear some gossip. Call me as soon as he leaves and tell me EVERYTHING, okay? Or is he not leaving tonight?"

Olivia laughed. "If he doesn't, it'll only be because I made him watch Zoom again and he fell asleep," she said.

"Right," said Rachel and I could hear the eye roll in her voice. "Did he... tell you about his friends?" she asked, sounding hesitant. "The ones who were here yesterday when you stopped by."

"You mean the Pack?" asked Olivia. "Yeah, he did."

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Rachel, sounding too excited. "Did you freak?"

"No," said Olivia. "I mean, you know, not too much. I think I was more stunned than freaked."

"When Paul told me, I freaked," said Rachel. "I mean, he didn't really say anything at first, just changed in front of me. I nearly died."

Olivia laughed again. "Okay," she said. "Look, I think Embry's listening in on our conversation, so, for his benefit: I find his wolf form VERY sexy."

I grinned and punched her lightly on the shoulder.

Rachel laughed. "Well, don't forget to call me, okay?" she said. "As soon as he leaves."

"I promise," said Olivia.

"Okay, talk to you later!"

"Bye, Rachel." Olivia snapped her phone closed. "I'll just bet you enjoyed that," she said.

"You really think my wolf is sexy?"

She laughed and curled up next to me, snaking her arms around my waist and burying her face in my chest. "Mmm, you're warm," she said. "I could've used you in Finland a few centuries ago. I can't freeze to death, but that doesn't stop me being miserable."

"Well, just let me build a time machine and I'll go back and keep you warm," I joked.

She laughed. "I need to get to bed," she said after a pause. "I'm on the substitute teacher list for the rest of the school year and they might call me in the morning."

Instinctively, my arms curled around her. "I don't want to go," I said.

"You don't HAVE to," she said. "Just know that if you stay, nothing's going to happen."

I thought about it for a moment. "No," I sighed. "If I stay, I won't be able to sleep and I DO have class in the morning. If I'm exhausted, my students will start rumors and they're likely to involve the only single female teacher in the school. Not that she would mind- she doesn't care much about what people think or say. I would, though."

"Is she that ugly?" Olivia asked, tilting her head to look at me.

"No, in fact, she's quite nearly as pretty as you are," I said. "It's not that. It would bother me because they wouldn't know about you. Now, if they did and started spreading rumors about US, well, that would be great."

She grinned at me. "Quite nearly as pretty," she repeated. "You're just racking up the points tonight."

I smiled at her. "I guess it's time for me to go," I said. But, I didn't move.

"Yeah." She didn't move either.

I kissed the end of her nose. "I'll call you tomorrow," I promised. "Maybe I'll come over with Chinese take-out."

She grinned. "Okay," she said, finally pulling away and standing. "Come on, I can see I need to kick you out." She dragged me off the couch and towards the door.

"Geez, you're strong," I commented. If a girl could pull a wereman off a sofa, she HAD to be stronger than she looked.

"Yeah, I know," she said. "And I'm heavier than I look, too. By at least three hundred pounds."

I tried to gage her weight from her height, but was having trouble. "A hundred and fifty is what I'd guess," I said.

"Okay, so I weigh more by 378 pounds," she said.

I stared at her blankly for a moment. "You weight 428 pounds?" I asked, disbelieving.

She grinned. "The Fey have a LOT of time to build up dense, lean muscle," she explained. "None of us are lightweights. By the time we reach one hundred, we're at least 200."

"I don't believe you," I said. Without waiting for a response, I scooped her up in one motion, legs in one arm and back in another. She shrieked in surprise and her arms went around my neck to steady herself. "Geez, you ARE heavy," I said, realizing that she wasn't kidding about her weight. "How can it even FIT in there?"

"Put me down, Embry, before you drop me," she demanded.

I put her down quickly. "Sorry," I said. "I wouldn't have believed it otherwise."

She grinned. "Okay, so now you know," she said. "I'm a LOT heavier than I look."

I nodded. "I'll call you tomorrow," I repeated.

"I know," she said. "Don't run into any Vampires, okay?"

"Not likely," I said with a grin.

Before I left, I stooped to kiss her forehead, and then I was gone.

...............................

"All the kids are saying that Mr. Call is in an exceptionally good mood, even for Mr. Call."

I turned to see Aram River- Principal of La Push High School- entering the staff room. Aram's father had been a huge fan of classical music and had named his children after famous composers. His sisters Maria and Anna Magdelena had gotten off easy. Not so he and his brothers, Ludwig and Johannes.

"Hey, Aram," I said.

"Good afternoon, Embry," he replied, sitting next to me with his lunch. Most of the staff was VERY informal when the students weren't around. "So what's this exceptional good mood all about?"

I shook my head, trying to wipe the goofy smile off my face. "Nothing, just... thinking about things," I said.

Tanya Seratos- she teaches English- gasped, a turkey and swiss sandwich halfway to her mouth. "You've MET someone!" she hissed.

This caused a general uproar. Most of them had given up on me. I'd shown no interest in dating for years, even dodging their attempts to set me up with their sister or niece or, in the case of Aram, granddaughter. Now, every eye in the room- twelve in total- was on me.

"I think you might be right, Tanya," speculated Helen March, an elderly woman who taught grammar with such a passion, most of the students could be heard correcting their friends' grammatical errors in general conversation.

"Why are you all so interested in my private life all of a sudden?" I asked, still unable to get rid of the pestersome grin.

"Because you NEVER date," pointed out Abe Lori- a man who'd been two years ahead of me in school. "I think you've gone out, what, three times?"

"Four," I corrected. "Twice with each girl before they lost interest. I'm still waiting for this one to do that, too."

"You think she will?" asked Aram.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I hope not. I really like her."

"So tell us all about her," said Abe. "Do we know her?"

"No," I said. "She just moved to Forks. She turned up at Rachel's place on Saturday when we were all there- they're old friends, I guess. I helped her unpack yesterday and then I made dinner."

"You made DINNER?" exclaimed Abe, eyes wide. "Already?"

I shrugged. "I like cooking," I said simply.

"What's her name?" asked Tanya, looking calf-eyed. She was a hopeless romantic.

"Olivia Casey," I answered, grinning as I said the name. "She's from Ireland." I had decided that the public story was best for now.

"Olivia Casey," repeated Aram. "Attended Washington State?"

"Yeah."

"She was just added to the substitute list for the area," he said. "Just got word of it Friday. Apparently, she's certified to teach almost everything. She must be pretty smart."

"Almost everything?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's got certificates for English, most Sciences, any branch of math you can think of, music, art and even phys ed," said Aram. "No idea how she found the time to learn enough to earn certificates for all those, but there you are."

"I didn't know that," I confessed. "She doesn't act smart. I mean, you know, like smart people act on television."

"Most smart people don't act like that," said Helen. "Just look at me. My IQ is 160. I don't wear nerdy glasses and roam around spouting out little known and inconsequential facts all day to people who don't care. For one thing, most people find that rude and annoying and for another, _I_ find it rude and annoying. They rarely get things right on television, anyway, Embry. Just look at Tonto! Natives don't tag around after white men doing whatever the white man says and they never have. Ridiculous."

"And I'm pretty sure white men didn't want Natives tagging along after them, anyway," pointed out Abe. "The whole of the Lone Ranger was pretty much wrong, really. At least it showed unity between races that didn't normally get along, so it has that as a plus. But look how we've all been glamorizing things that were never meant to be glamorous. Pirates! Pirates were murderers, rapists and thieves, not lovable scoundrels who were just out for a good time. The entertainment industry never gets anything right."

I grinned, letting them get on with that conversation. I didn't really want to talk about Olivia just now, anyway. At least not with these guys. Maybe with Quil and Jake, or even Collin or Seth. Even Leah!

Luckily, the conversation about Hollywood's screw ups lasted until the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch hour and I hurried from the room before anyone could ask me any more questions.

The afternoon was quicker- it always is- but it still seemed to drag along. Time seemed to do that when one was waiting for something one desired. Finally, though, the last bell rang and the last class of the day filed out of the room. As soon as the halls started to clear, I grabbed my new cell phone- yes, I finally joined the rest of the world just last week- and dialed Olivia's number.

She answered on the fifth ring. "Hello?" she said, sounding a little breathless.

"It's Embry," I said, that stupid grin coming to my face again.

"Oh, hi!" she said, sounding more cheerful. "Sorry, I couldn't find my phone. I got called in to Hoquiam today- someone came down with the flu. I might be here all week."

"Awesome," I said. "I mean, not about the flu- that's bad, but at least you're not just sitting around, then, huh?"

"Yeah," she said. "I don't like sitting around."

"Who does? I'm just glad I didn't have a test planned for today. I'd have gone insane."

She laughed softly. "Hang on a minute, Embry," she said. Then, her voice was muffled as if she'd covered the phone's mouthpiece with her hand and was talking to someone else. "Yes, Miss Johansen?"

Another muffled voice- this one younger and melodic and VERY beautiful- followed after. "I've left my notebook behind, I think. Do you mind if I look for it?"

"Would this be it?"

"Yes! Thank you."

"Okay, I'm back." Her voice was clearer now.

"One of the students?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said and I suspected she was hiding something.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she promised. "It's just that that particular student is very well behaved and sort of sad. Wish I knew why. I mean, well behaved is great, but the sadness is sort of... overwhelming."

"Hm," I said, not sure what else to say on the subject. "Hey, we still on for Chinese take-out?"

She laughed. "Sure," she said. "You know a good place for it?"

"Not really," I confessed. "At least, not any closer than Port Angeles. And that's not really that great, either. There's a pizza place that's really good, though. How about if I pick one up and head to your place?"

"Sure," she said. "I need to do some grocery shopping, so give me a couple of hours at least, okay?"

"No problem," I said. "See you about six?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay, see you then."

"See you."

"Olivia?"

"Yeah?"

"I- I love you."

There was a pause. "Wow, Embry," she said, sounding impressed. "I guess this whole imprinting thing really forces your hand, doesn't it?"

"A little, yeah," I replied. "You don't have to say it. I know it's not traditional."

"Thanks for understanding," she said. "I really like you a lot. How's that?"

"That'll do for now," I laughed. "Talk to you later."

She disconnected then, and I stood to collect papers to grade.

"I looooove you, Olivia!"

I turned to see Abe making kissy faces at me from the door.

"Shut up, Abe!"

"Aw, come on," he said, coming in and settling himself on the corner of my desk. "I'll bet she's hot. Is she hot? She's gotta be hot."

"Will you stop it!" I demanded, laughing. "It's none of your business, anyway."

"I know that look, Embry," he said. "I saw it on Sam when he first met Emily and on Jared when he met Kim. You and your gang always get the girl when that look gets on your face."

"Me and my gang," I repeated. "Nice."

"Don't try to change the subject!" accused Abe. "You do! I know Sam didn't like it when I told him how he looked at Emily. I know he was dating Leah Clearwater at the time, and I suppose that had something to do with it. But, look, you've got that look now. I've seen the others with their girls- and Leah with Bradon- you guys all look the same. She's gonna end up with your ring on her finger, mark my words."

"And why do you care so much?"

"Just living through you, Embry," he sighed. "I'm never likely to find a girl."

"You're just too picky," I told him.

"Nah, your gang has taken all the good ones," he said.

"There's Jennifer," I pointed out. Jennifer was the one single female teacher at the school.

"She's not interested in dating," he pointed out.

"Have you ever tried asking her?" I asked.

"No," he said. "But, neither did you."

"That's different."

"How?"

"I don't get all doughy when she's around."

He gave me a small grin. "So what makes you think she'd say yes to me if she won't say yes to anyone else?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Because she knows you," I said. "I have a feeling she just says no because she suspects a lot of men are just jerks she wouldn't want to waste her time on anyway. Give it a try. Look, I gotta go, okay? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, go on, go to your Olivia," he said, leaving the room ahead of me. "And stay there tonight! It'll do you worlds of good."

I just grinned as I left, closing and locking the door behind me.


	4. Dreadful Realization

I lounged on Olivia's sofa, Olivia settled against my chest, my arms around her. A CD of her Concerto for Piano and Bagpipes was playing on her stereo. The pizza I'd picked up on my way over was gone; I'd eaten most of it. Olivia was unconsciously humming a counter melody to the piano part, probably unaware- or uncaring- that I could hear it. Her voice was soft and clear and it was quickly lulling me to sleep.

A soft kiss on the underside of my chin woke me. My eyelids fluttered open to see Olivia twisted around, grinning at me. "Is it that boring?" she asked.

"No, it's that soothing," I said. "Really. I never thought bagpipes could be so mellow."

"Well, it IS mostly a drone," she said. "Anyway, listen, I have to tell you something." She pulled away from me and moved to sit next to me instead of curled up nearly on top of me.

"What is it?" I asked apprehensively. After our lengthy discussion yesterday, I wasn't sure what to expect.

"That girl in Hoquiam," she said. "The sad one. The one who came to the classroom while we were on the phone."

"Right," I said, somewhat relieved that she didn't have any more secrets to tell me.

"Well, I spoke to the principal about her," she said. "You know, these are the things teachers are supposed to look out for."

"Exactly," I said.

"I got the story from him," she said. "He said that when she was 10 years old, she was in a car accident with her mother. She was in the backseat, right behind the driver's seat. Her mother took the brunt of it and she just watched her mother die. There was nothing she could do, of course, but still, it traumatized her. After that, she wouldn't talk for a long time. A few months later, she started answering direct questions, but she never offered any information or spoke unless someone spoke to her first. Her dad remarried a few years ago and they moved to Hoquiam when he got a good job at the hospital there. Anyway, they were in the councelor's office at the school signing her up for classes when she suddenly turns to her dad and asks, 'why did we move here?' And it's the first time she's asked a question since before her mother died. He's shocked, of course, but he told her that he felt they all- him, her and her step-mother- needed a change. She says, 'I don't like it, it's too wet,' and that's the end of it. Now, she talks a bit more, but she's still very somber all the time. She sings in the choir- she has an amazing voice- but has only ever auditioned for one solo because, 'someone else should get a chance, too.' She's got a few friends, but they even say she doesn't talk much."

"It's got to be hard," I said, trying to figure out why she was telling me. It seemed like gossip to me and Olivia didn't seem the sort that was prone to gossip. "I mean, loosing your mom is one thing, but watching her die would be quite another."

"Yeah, I know," she said with an air of brushing off an unimportant comment. "But, I don't think that's the real reason she's so sad."

I wrinkled my brow. "Why's that?" I asked. And furthermore, why did it concern either of us, I wanted to add, but didn't.

"Because she's an Elder," she told me.

I didn't have a clue what an Elder was. I'd heard her use the term yesterday, but I didn't have any idea what it meant.

I must have been giving her a blank stare, because she gave me an exasperated look and said, "an Elder is like a Vampire- they're very closely related- except they're a LOT safer. They're very good at controlling themselves right from the start and can interact safely with humans after only a few days. After two years, they aren't even affected by the smell of human blood anymore. They're very good at protecting humanity. Most humans think they're angels and I have to admit, they're pretty close. More corruptible, but close."

"How like Vampires are they?" I asked.

"Well, they drink blood," she started. "They don't sleep and they sparkle in the sunlight. They're beautiful, fair skinned and smell really good- to humans anyway. I suspect you don't like their smell any more than I do and maybe even a great deal less. They're super strong and super fast and hard to kill."

"That sounds a lot like a Vampire," I said. I'd have to tell the rest of the pack and Sam's pack as well if there were more Vampires around.

"Yes, it does," she said. "But, trust me, they're not quite the same. The Fey don't get along with Vampires, but we DO get along with Elders. And it's a good thing, too, because there are more of them than Vampires, Faeries, werewolves and weremen put together."

I stared at her. "If there are so many of them, why haven't we run across them before?" I demanded.

"They're very good at blending in," she explained. "They can 'go human'. I don't fully understand that, but their skin gets darker, warmer and softer- still not quite to the point of a real human, but almost. And they don't smell like normal Vampires. Their hearts beat, blood runs through their veins and they can live on human food if they must. They'd still rather drink blood, though."

"And do they drink from humans?"

"I just said they don't like the smell of human blood," she said, exasperated. "They only drink from animals. There's more to them, but I don't know any of it. They're pretty secretive."

I paused, thinking. "I'll have to inform Sam and Leah at the least," I said. "They'll want to talk to you about it."

She hesitated. "I don't want anyone who doesn't absolutely have to to know what I am," she said slowly. "It could be dangerous."

"My pack will find out," I told her. "We've got this pack mind. We're all linked. It's going to be impossible to keep it from them. Jake can keep secrets, but I haven't learned the trick, yet. And we can all tell when he's keeping them."

She looked troubled. "How many is your pack?" she asked.

"Leah's the alpha until Jake gets back," I said. "And there's Quil, Seth, Collin, James, Tom and Michael. Eight of us in all."

She moaned, flopping back onto the sofa looking worried. "Eight," she repeated. "Eight of you in danger for me. Damn it! Are you SURE there's no way to keep the secret?"

"Only if you have access to a flux capacitor and a DeLorean," I told her. "Because you'd have to go back in time and NOT tell me."

"Damn," she said dispassionately. "Well, I guess there's nothing to be done about it, now. Don't tell anyone else, though."

"Leah's gonna want to tell Sam," I said hesitantly.

"Tell her I forbid it," she said, suddenly afraid. "Tell her I threatened to choke her. Tell her whatever you have to to get her to keep her mouth shut!"

"Okay, I'll convince her," I promised, one hand brushing her cheek lightly to calm her. "Don't worry, she won't tell anyone outside our pack."

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice back to its old half emotionless sound. "I just don't want anyone in danger who doesn't have to be. I'd prefer if you at least TRIED to keep it from the rest of your pack."

"Why would knowing you're a Faerie put them in danger?"

She gave me a dark look. "Like I said before," she said. "I have dangerous enemies."

"I'm pretty sure we could handle them."

"It's not just that they're dangerous," she insisted. "It's that there's so MANY of them."

"It takes a lot to overwhelm us," I told her, settling next to her on the sofa and worming an arm around her shoulders. "We're tougher than you think."

She sighed. "Trust me on this one, Embry," she said. "It would take a lot to deter my enemies."

"You do realize I'm now honor-bound to protect you," I said. "By whatever means necessary. You're the object of my imprinting. I can't just stand back and let you get hurt. You have no idea what your pain does to me."

She looked at me sharply. "MY pain?" she said. "What do you mean?"

"Remember on the beach when I kept bugging you about your age?"

She nodded.

"And you got irritated," I said. "It was like a physical ache in my chest. I knew you were hurt and I knew I'd caused it. And it's not much different if I DON'T cause it. Sam about went crazy when Emily's dad died. We sort of have to do anything and everything to make it right. Only, sometimes, there's nothing we CAN do. It's really hard."

She just stared at me for awhile. Her face showed several emotions at once, but her voice was just as flat as usual when she finally spoke. "Wow," she said. "It sorta makes me glad I'm not a wereman."

"Just sorta?"

She grinned and leaned her head on my shoulder. "You smell really musky," she said. "Like you've been running and got all sweaty and didn't have time to shower and just threw on some aftershave."

"Gee, thanks," I said with a grin.

"It's not bad," she said. "I like it. Try not to tell your pack about me. You can tell them about the Johansens, but if they ask you how you found out, try not to let them know it was me. If it slips, it slips. Can you do that?"

"I'll try," I said. "For you."

............................

_How did you find out about that?_

It was nearly midnight and we'd managed to gather the whole pack together- a newlywed and completely impossible to take Jake included- so I could tell them about the Johansens all at once. I'd been practicing not thinking about Olivia and thought I had it down, but when Collin asked that question, my mind flitted to her automatically. _Don't ask me how she knew!_ I demanded.

But, it was too late. The word Faerie was already flitting through my mind.

_Wait, what was that? _demanded Leah.

I sighed mentally and replayed the conversation for them. _She doesn't want anyone knowing about it who doesn't have to, though, so don't even tell Nessie or Edward or Bella, Jake._

_You know I hate keeping things from Nessie._

_Jake, she insisted. We can't even tell Sam._

_We HAVE to tell Sam about the Johansens, _said Leah.

_We can tell him that, but not that Olivia knows and not what she is,_ I replied. _She was very insistent. She thinks it's too dangerous. She preferred that even you guys didn't know._

_All right, I won't tell her, _Jake said. _And I'll do my best to keep it from Edward and Bella, but they're both mind readers now._

_Bella still exhibiting new powers? _asked Seth. _That's wicked cool._

Another silence from Jake told us he was hiding something again. _You don't know the half of it, _he said. _I'll explain it when we get there. Bella's getting antsy, so I have a feeling this honeymoon's going to be short. Speaking of which, was there anything else, or can I get back to it?_

_Oh, go on! _said Leah. _You're starting to make me sick._

_Yeah, Leah, and we're all sick of you, _he shot back at her in a joking tone.

She winced mentally. _Sorry about that, guys,_ she said as another unwanted image of her and Bradon flitted through her mind. _I don't know what's up with me lately. I'll try to keep it under control, I promise._

_Give Nessie a kiss for me, _I told Jake.

_Will do, _he said. And he was gone.

_Sam and Paul are on watch tonight, so we're all off the hook, _said Leah, her officious manner meant to distract her from the thoughts that lingered in the back of her mind. _Michael and James have tomorrow. Don't forget!_

_Yes, ma'am! _said James and he was gone.

Michael winked out without a word. He was the youngest and newest member of our pack and was pretty quiet most of the time.

Collin left a few snide- and off-color- remarks about Leah and Bradon that would probably make Leah blush later before he left and Quil and Tom only stayed long enough to listen. Seth left us in the middle with a mumbled comment about not wanting to think of his sister that way.

_Embry?_

_What's up, Leah? _I asked. I'd been just about to check out myself.

_What IS wrong with me? _she asked.

_I'm sure it's nothing, Leah, _I reassured her. _You're just really into him. Lots of people have trouble keeping their hands off their significant others. You'll calm down soon enough._

_I never USED to be like this! _she insisted. _It just started the past couple of weeks. I mean, HE'S really pleased and I guess I am, too, but geez! Honestly! How many times do I have to do it before I've had enough?_

_Okay, Leah, _I said, trying not to be disgusted. _Can't you talk about this to a girlfriend or something?_

_Sorry,_ she said. _I just thought… I don't know. You just seem to be able to take stuff better than anyone I know and you don't tease me about it later. And I don't really want advice, just a chance to vent._

_Oh. Well, then. Vent away._

She chuckled mentally. _Thanks, Embry, _she said. _I think I'm okay now._

_That and you want Bradon again._

_Hey!_

_Sorry! Just kidding!_

She paused for a moment. _Actually, I sorta do._

_Ew!_

_Sorry, _she said morosely.

_Oh, just go!_

With a mental laugh, she was gone.

I shifted back, too. I'd stayed home to shift. The second bedroom in my house was small, but big enough for my wolf to fit in. I just closed the blinds and let it go. It was easier than going outside and running all the way to the woods and making sure there were no hikers around and then having to come all the way back. As long as we were just having a meeting and not actually out running together, the second bedroom was perfect.

Jake would be back in a month or two and we'd have our Alpha back. Not that any of us were unhappy with Leah. She'd turned out to be an amazing leader and she and Sam got along really well- especially now that Leah had Bradon. Still, we missed Jake. He missed us, too, but he couldn't be torn away from Nessie if his life depended on it- maybe if hers did.

Leaving the second bedroom, my gaze fell on my phone. I knew Olivia would be waiting to hear if I'd managed to keep her secret for her, but wondered about the wisdom of calling so late at night. Thinking about what she'd say if she had to call me about it, I picked up the phone as I headed into my own bedroom to put some clothes on.

Olivia answered on the first ring as I was pulling sweat pants on. "Embry!" she said. "What happened?"

"I tried," I told her. "I really did. It slipped out, though."

She moaned and I could hear her flop backwards onto something- probably her bed. "They're not going to spread it around, are they?" she asked, sounding weak.

"They promised to keep it to themselves," I assured her. "Jake's pretty good at keeping secrets, so I don't think he'll have any problems."

"Where IS Jake, anyway?" she asked.

"Florida, on his honeymoon," I told her. "They eloped. They're going to have a wedding sometime when they get back."

"I'll bet his family loves that," she said sarcastically.

"They don't know, yet," I told her. "They haven't met her."

"They haven't met his wife?" she asked, sounding astonished.

"See, she was still a minor when he imprinted on her," I told her. "So, when her parents left town, he went with them."

"You can imprint on minors?"

"Quil did, too," I said. "He imprinted on Claire. It's different when they're little, though. He's sorta like a second father to her right now. When she grows up, it'll be different, but for now…"

She sighed. "That's just bizarre," she said. "So, Jake's wife has known him since she was a kid?"

I grinned to myself, remembering that Nessie was only technically eight and a half years old. "Yeah, she's known him for eight and a half years," I said. "Her mother is Jake's best friend and he gets on all right with her father. You should see him with her Aunt Rose, though! They're a riot. Don't like each other in the least. And Nessie likes her aunt so much! Rose is the one who took care of her the most when- when her mother was ill. The rest of the family's good with him, though." I had very nearly said "when her mother was changing" but had stopped myself at the last minute. I thought that might give things away and I didn't want to tell her about Bella and Edward. The way she felt about Vampires was painfully obvious in the way she spoke the name. Besides which, it hadn't escaped my attention that she'd called Laurant an "it" when I'd told her the story of us chasing him down.

Luckily, she didn't seem to notice my near slip. "Sounds like an interesting set of circumstances," she said. "So does her family know about Jake and the Pack?"

"Oh, sure," I told her. "They're in on it."

There was a pause. "Embry."

"What?"

"Is there something I should know about them?"

I sighed. She'd heard the hesitation after all. "Olivia, do you trust me?" I asked.

She paused for a moment. "Yeah," she said finally.

"Then don't worry about it, okay?" I said. "They're safe."

"If you say so," she said grudgingly. "I trust you."

"Thank you," I said. "Now, I need to get some sleep. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"I sure hope so."

"I love you."

"I like you a lot."

I grinned. "Goodnight, Olivia."

"Goodnight, Embry."

I snapped the phone closed and set it on my dresser with my keys where I knew I would be able to find them in the morning. I crawled into bed still thinking about Olivia.

My dreams that night were mixed and crazy. Disjointed images of Olivia and Edward in an all-out fight filled them. Sometimes, the fights ended with Edward in flames and other times, they ended with Olivia torn to pieces. When I woke up, I wondered why the dreams with Edward in flames frightened me more than the ones with Olivia in pieces.

While I was brushing my teeth, it hit me: if Olivia burned Edward up, Bella would go after Olivia. And if that happened, I had the feeling that Bella would die. And if Bella died, Nessie would go after Olivia. And Nessie would die. And if that happened, Jake would go after Olivia and I would be forced to fight a brother.

I stared at myself in the mirror. How was I so sure that Olivia would take out two Vampires and their child? I had no idea. That fire of hers seemed pretty fierce, though.

No, that wasn't it. I was so sure she would win because I would be there to help her.

Dear God.

I would help her kill Edward. I would help her kill Bella and, if Nessie came at her, I would help her kill Nessie, too. And, with a complete certainty, I knew I would be by her side if Jake came seeking vengeance.

Something caught in my throat as I realized that I would stand against the whole pack if it came to that. My toothbrush clattered to the sink and I had trouble breathing. I would stand against my brothers if they came after my Olivia. I would rip them limb from limb. Seth, Collin, Leah-

Leah!

But, I would. I would kill Leah if she threatened Olivia.

A sudden cry tore from my throat and before I knew what was going on, I was out of the house and in the woods. I held onto it just long enough to get to the woods and my wolf tore through and I was running. I wasn't aware that I'd been howling in pain until Leah suddenly popped in.

_Geez, Embry, you could wake the dead!_ she said.

_Go away, Leah,_ I told her.

There was a pause as she read my memories. _Oh,_ she said. _Embry, just calm down._

I was surprised that she didn't even seem upset or appalled at me. In fact, if anything, she seemed mildly surprised. _Don't you GET it, Leah?_ I demanded. _I would KILL you! Without hesitation._

_Yeah, I know,_ she said. _Seth go away!_

I hadn't even noticed Seth pop in. He must have heard the howling.

_Leah- _Seth started.

_I said GO, Seth! _she demanded. _This isn't for you. GO! NOW!_

And Seth was gone.

_Embry, just calm down. I understand more than you know._

_But, Leah! I would kill you all!_

_Yes, Embry, I know._

I finally calmed down enough to force myself to stop running and to lie down.

_Where are you? _Leah asked.

I sent her an image of my location. She was there in a matter of minutes. At first, she didn't do anything, just sat in front of me, eyes boring into mine.

_Am I a terrible person? _I finally asked her.

_Embry, _Leah started. _I'm just surprised this realization came so quickly._

I stared at her. _What? _I demanded.

_You imprinted on her, Embry,_ she said. _Everyone who imprints realizes that they'd stand against his- or her- brothers to defend their girl- or guy- sooner or later. It just normally takes longer than this._

_You would kill me over Bradon? _I demanded, disbelieving.

_Yes, I would, _she said.

I studied her for a long time before she finally opened herself up completely and allowed me to see her own revelation. It had been around Christmas time- garlands were up in the house anyway, so I assumed it was. Her realization had come when Bradon and Seth were play-fighting over a candy cane. She had run from the house and Quil had comforted her. _It's the same for all of us,_ she said morosely. _Once we imprint, there comes a time when we realize that we would take out our brothers for our loves. Quil said Jake very nearly went mad. He was so far away from us when it happened, nobody realized it. He talked him down, though. And now, I'm talking you down._

I thought for a moment. What I wouldn't give to have Jake here, now. And Quil. If they'd both experienced it, they'd know how to make me feel better.

_They'd tell you the same thing I'm telling you now, Embry,_ Leah pointed out.

_How did you keep this from everyone? _I asked.

_When something's important enough, you can keep it from anyone,_ she said. _Seth doesn't know. Bradon doesn't know. The only people who know are Quil, Jake and James. And I'm sure Paul and Sam and Jared all suspect, too. And anyone else who's had the revelation. Just calm down, Embry. You have a class to teach._

I'd forgotten about my class. Damn! Pull it together, Embry. You can do it. Come on, now, just relax. Leah says it's normal. Calm down.

It took nearly an hour and Leah was just considering calling the school and telling them that I wouldn't be in when I calmed down enough to switch back. Luckily, we'd all grown used to Leah by now and didn't mind being naked around her. She still had her modesty, though, and went behind a tree to transform. "Want me to bring you back some clothes?" she offered.

"Yes, Please," I said, settling next to a tree to try to calm down a bit better.

She returned in less than ten minutes with some sweat pants and a T-shirt. "You'll be able to hide it," she promised. "It's important. That's how Jake learned to hide things so well. He convinces himself it's as dangerous as the knowledge of what he'd do to us if we came against Nessie."

I made it to school just in time to hear the final bell. The kids were all in the classroom, waiting when I hurried in. They'd been hoping I wouldn't show up and they could leave after five minutes.

Needless to say, there were new rumors around school today. This time, they weren't about Mr. Call's suspected love life. They were about Mr. Call's suspected rejection by some girl. I didn't bother to correct any of them when I heard about it and told Abe some story about a sick uncle that I'm sure he didn't believe.

The truth was too hard to explain without giving too much away.


	5. Revealed!

I managed to keep my secret- with Quil's and Leah's help- with little trouble. It was difficult, especially when everyone wanted to know what had happened that day when I'd gone temporarily insane and Leah had snapped at them all to change back as soon as they joined us. Leah brushed them off easily by saying it was personal problems that didn't concern any of them and they'd be better off just forgetting they'd noticed anything. I vaguely remembered when Quil had done the same for Leah. Now that I had experienced it, I told them that Leah was right and to just drop it. Gradually, they all forgot about it and let me hide that memory in peace.

I managed to keep it from Olivia, too. She already knew I'd kill for her, but I wasn't sure how she would feel if she knew I'd kill my own BROTHERS for her. I hoped I would never find out. Somehow, the idea of her fire scared me, although I was sure she'd never use it against me.

Well, almost sure.

Jake was able to keep Olivia's secret from Edward and Bella. They knew he was keeping something from them, but they didn't know what it was.

Olivia met my mother two weeks after I met her. They get along famously and mom is already talking about having a daughter-in-law. Olivia compliments mom outrageously and mom keeps calling her a Brown-nose jokingly.

Olivia had a steady stream of substitute teacher work over the next month. She got calls all the way from Port Angeles, which wasn't terribly far, so she took the jobs there, too. The school at La Push called her and offered her at least a week's work. She accepted and I didn't know about it until I walked into the staff room and there she was, talking to Abe and drinking coffee.

"Hey, Embry!" Abe called as soon as he spotted me. "Met your girl."

Olivia grinned at me. "I'm subbing for calculus," she told me. "Got the call about an hour ago."

I grinned back at her. I couldn't help it. "Just today?" I asked.

"At least all week," she said. "Mr. Johns has a terrible case of the flu."

"Just think," said Abe. "You can have lunch with her all week long."

Olivia grinned at me. "I should go over the lesson plan," she said. "Could you show me where the room is?"

"Sure," I said, still grinning at her. I held the door open for her and glanced at Abe before leaving the room. He was making kissy faces at me again. "It's not a very big school," I told her as I closed the door behind us. "You could probably find it yourself."

"I know," she said. "But, I had to get you away from him. He's liable to tease you relentlessly. He was teasing me just now. I think that's the most I've ever been teased by a stranger in my whole life. And, if he would tease me that much, I shudder to think how he'd treat you."

I laughed. "I'm used to it by now," I said. "Abe likes to tease people. Personally, I think he's romantically frustrated and teasing helps relieve him."

She laughed, making me melt again. "Too bad I don't know anyone I could hook him up with," she said.

"He wouldn't be interested," I said. "He's shy about girls. No idea why."

The week went by without incident. Aram loved her and talked a lot about starting a music program in La Push, but we all knew nothing would ever come of it. On Friday, just as my last class was leaving, my phone rang. I snatched it up. "Jake!" I said as I put the phone to my ear. "Hey, buddy, what's going on?"

"I talked to Leah last night," he said. "But, nobody could find you. Were you with Olivia?"

I grinned to myself. "Not all night," I said. "But, yeah, pretty late."

Jake laughed. "She's still holding out?" he asked.

I glanced around to make sure there was nobody around. "The Fey don't rush these things, apparently," I said. "In fact, she said it's not unusual to give a relationship 20 years before even thinking about kissing."

Jake whistled. "She's not going to make you wait that long, is she?"

"No," I said. "She promised. Now, why did you really call? I'm sure it wasn't just to razz me about my love life."

"We're on our way back right now," he said. "The way Nessie's driving, it'll take us three weeks to get there."

"I'm enjoying the scenery!" a young woman's voice objected in the background as Edward laughed.

"Hi, Nessie," I said, knowing she'd hear me.

"Hi, Uncle Embry!"

"Just wait 'til you see her, Embry," said Jake admiringly. "She's something."

"I know you think so," I teased.

"Anyway, I think our schedule is to be back sometime tomorrow," Jake said. "Probably around 2 or 3 in the afternoon."

"As long as Nessie stops driving like my dad," said another young woman's voice, this one very melodic and beautiful.

"Mum!"

"You can drive tomorrow, dear," said Edward.

There was a knock on my door and I glanced up to see Olivia slip inside the room. "All right, I'll see you guys tomorrow, then," I said, breaking up their argument. "And be careful."

Edward laughed in the background. "As if anything would happen if we weren't, anyway," he said.

"It could to Jake," Nessie pointed out.

"I'm tougher than you give me credit for, Nessie," Jake said. "See you tomorrow, Embry."

"Bye, Jake," I said and closed my phone. "They're on their way back," I told Olivia. "Jake and his wife and her folks. They'll be back tomorrow."

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting on the edge of my desk. Somehow, she could always tell when something was on my mind other than what I'd said.

"Just remember what I told you about them, okay?" I asked her. "When you asked if there was something you should know."

"That you trust them," she said slowly. "I trust you, Embry."

"We have a treaty with them," I told her. "The Pack, I mean. Both packs have a treaty.."

"A treaty," she repeated. "Well, I can't imagine they'd be too bad if you have a treaty." She grinned at me.

"Just promise me something," I said.

"What's that?"  
"That no matter what they do or what you see, you'll do whatever I tell you to," I said.

"That's a tall order, Embry," she said.

"Please?"

She sighed. "All right," she said. "I trust you. If you trust them, I suppose they must be okay."

"They're all right," I told her. "Come on, I'll cook dinner."

Me cooking dinner on Friday nights had become a sort of tradition over the past month. I would rummage in the cupboards and refrigerator and invent something. I once cooked a couple of steaks in a can of coke with a bay leaf and some other spices. It actually turned out really good. There was a thin sauce that we poured over rice.

After dinner, Olivia would pull out a movie and make me watch it. Most of them had been pretty good. She had an eclectic taste in movies. We'd watched comedies, action, horror and classics. Tonight, after we'd eaten a vegetable stir fry, she sat me down on the sofa and put in a movie called "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." It was made in the 60's and made me laugh a lot. After the movie, as per usual, I stayed until the wee hours of the morning, just happy to be with her.

"Why don't you just stay tonight?" she said after a long pause in which I'd been stroking her hair as she leaned against me. "I mean, not FOR anything. Just… just to be here."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," I said hesitantly.

"Look, Embry, you always wind up here first thing Saturday morning, anyway," she said. "Just stay. I- I want you to."

I sighed. "You want me to," I repeated. "Olivia…"

"Please, Embry?"

I looked down at her and she was giving me sad puppy dog eyes. "Do you have any idea how hard that will be for me?" I asked.

She looked guilty. "I think I do," she said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Believe me, Olivia, I would LOVE to stay," I moaned. "But on different conditions."

She blushed. "I know," she said. "You want to marry me. We've talked about this. Give me time, Embry. I know it must be hard for you, but I just… can't. It's normally years before the Fey even consider that. I would love to do things by your traditions, but it terrifies me. My poor Embry," she said, nuzzling my neck. "You're so patient. If things were reversed, I don't know WHAT I'd do."

"You'd probably have had me by now," I said. "You're more convincing than I am."

She laughed softly and settled against my chest again. "I love you," she whispered.

It was the first time she'd ever said it. I'd been saying it to her for a month and all I'd ever gotten in return was, "I like you a lot." But, this time, she'd actually said it. I was so stunned, I didn't know what to say at first. Finally, I managed to find my voice. "I- you do?" I said stupidly.

She giggled into my chest. "Yes, Embry, I do," she said. "I've been thinking about it for a while, now and I've decided that I do. Well, actually, I decided that I have to. You're just such a wonderful man and you're so devoted that I thought, 'Olivia, what in the universe are you doing? You need to love that man!' So, I decided- just this morning, actually- that I love you."

"You decided?" I asked, amused.

"Yes," she said. "See, I think it's totally possible to love someone on purpose. In fact, I think it's probably much better to love someone on purpose than to 'fall' in love."

"Why's that?"

"Because if something goes wrong, I can turn around and go back," she said reluctantly. "But, I don't think anything will with you. I don't fully understand imprinting, but I know it's pretty permanent."

"Yes, it is," I said. "I thought it would bug me if I ever imprinted, but I don't even care that I don't have a choice."

"Gee, thanks," she said.

Ulp.

There was that tightening in my chest again. "I didn't mean I wanted someone else!" I said quickly. "Olivia, God, I'm sorry! I love you! I don't-"

"Embry!" she exclaimed, sitting up to look me in the eyes. "Calm down. I'm not hurt, I promise. I was teasing you! I'm sorry!" She kissed me then and I felt instantly better.

"Don't DO that to me!" I moaned, brushing the hair out of her face.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, settling against me again.

I didn't reply, just stroked her hair and held her for the longest time. Eventually, I became aware of her slow, heavy breathing and realized she'd fallen asleep. Damn. I could carry her to bed and tuck her in, but that would probably wake her- she'd once told me that she's a very light sleeper. Well, the sofa wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, I'd fallen asleep on it several times. It's huge, blue and VERY soft. So, I positioned a pillow behind my head and reached behind me to turn off the lamp.

I was aware of light streaming into my eyes from between the blinds what seemed like only moments later. Olivia was nowhere to be seen. I sat up and a blanket fell off me. She must have gotten up at some point in the night and gone to bed. I started towards the stairs and became aware of Matisyahu singing from a stereo upstairs. What time was it, anyway?

"Good morning, sleepy," said Olivia, coming out of her bedroom, fully dressed, hair done, and light, almost invisible make-up on. She was gorgeous.

I couldn't help smiling at her. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Nearly noon," she said. "I've been up since six."

"Six!"

"The Fey don't need much sleep," she said, grabbing a bottle of window cleaner on her way to the bathroom. "In fact, we don't need any at all. But, we like to sleep. A couple of hours is usually enough. I've been up cleaning. You didn't even flinch when I vacuumed the living room."

"You vacuumed?" I asked, following her to the bathroom where she proceeded to wash the mirror and the single, rather tiny window.

"Yeah," she said with a grin. "And dusted. You just kept snoring."

"I don't snore!" I insisted.

"You do," she said. "Very quietly. And it's perfectly rhythmic. I don't mind it at all. I imagine it would lull me to sleep if you ever fell asleep first."

I grinned at her as she tossed the paper towel she'd used to clean the glass and tried to push past me. I wouldn't let her, though. Instead, I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. "Do you have any idea how hot you look?" I asked.

She looked up at me, a confused look on her face that told me clearly how insane she thought I was. "In THIS?" she demanded, indicating her jeans, T-shirt and Converse All-Stars. To be fair, though, the Jeans and T-shirt were pretty form fitting and the shirt was the perfect shade of pink to accent her coloring. The All-Stars matched the shirt perfectly and made her look especially cute.

"It makes you look centuries younger," I said.

She laughed.

"You'll come to meet them with me, won't you?" I asked.

"Jake and his new family?" she asked. "Sure. I'm looking forward to meeting him, anyway."

"You were Rachel's friend all through college and somehow never met her family?" I asked.

"I've met her dad," she defended.

"That was recently," I retorted.

"I met him once before," she said. "He came up to the college for one of those parents' things, but I was more concerned with my own parents who had actually managed to take time from court to come visit me. That's very rare. In fact, I think it's the first time they visited me since I left Europe."

"I just realized something," I said. "Your father is King of the Seelie court."

"Yes," she replied.

"Making you a Princess."

"THE Princess," she corrected. "I'm his only daughter. I've got eleven brothers, though."

"You've mentioned sisters," I said, confused for a moment.

"Yeah," she sighed. "The Fey consider anyone close to them their brothers and sisters. The two I've mentioned are just very close friends."  
"Okay, so you're THE Princess," I said. "And also a Faerie. Which would make you a Faerie Princess."

"Oh, brother," she moaned, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I've heard that a million and one times from my brothers. I was sort of hoping you wouldn't make the connection."

"Too late."

She jabbed me in the ribs and ducked past me during my momentary distraction.

We spent a few minutes playing cat and mouse, and then I had to go home to change. She came with me and we were at the Black's house by 1:30.

"Jake just called," Billy told us as we walked in. "They're about an hour away. Nessie's enjoying the scenery. Everyone else is here." He motioned towards the living room where our whole pack, plus Rachel, Sam, Emily and Claire sat, talking excitedly.

"Hey, I'll be there in a minute, okay, Olivia?" I said as Sam and Leah came into the kitchen.

"Sure," she said, spotting Rachel and hurrying over to talk.

"Embry," said Sam, looking dark.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Leah says Olivia doesn't like Vampires," said Sam.

I glanced at Leah. How much had she told them? "She doesn't," I said.

"How does she even know about them?" demanded Billy.

"It's… complicated," I replied.

"Do you mind explaining that?" asked Sam.

"She doesn't want too many people knowing," I said. "Just telling my Pack was risky, but I couldn't keep it from them."

"Well, risk it some more," said Sam, looking angry. "Tell me what's going on, Embry."

"Sam-"

"Embry, I think you'd better tell them," said Leah.

"If I tell Sam, his whole pack will find out and Olivia won't like that one bit," I said. "She's… dangerous. Sort of. Look, Sam," I said as Sam's face switched from angry to livid. "I promised her I wouldn't tell you and I also promised her I wouldn't let anyone else tell you."

"Well, you're going to have to break that promise, Embry," Sam said.

"Why'd you have to tell them she hates vampires, anyway, Leah?" I demanded angrily

"Because I wanted them to be prepared in case she tries something when they get here," she replied, looking both worried and a little annoyed with me. "You didn't even tell her that Edward and Bella are Vampires, did you?"

"No," I admitted. "She suspects something is strange about them, but she trusts me and I've convinced her to just follow my lead on this."

"Embry, how can I possibly know if she'll cause any trouble today if you won't trust me with a little information?" hissed Sam in anger. "Do you honestly think I'll use it against her?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what, Embry?"

"She has dangerous enemies," I said. "And she's afraid that if those enemies learn that we're her friends, they'll come after us. She's trying to protect us, Sam! She told me because I imprinted on her, but she doesn't want anyone else to know if I can keep it a secret."

There was a pause as everyone took that in.

"Does she know that because you imprinted on her, the whole Tribe is honor bound to protect her?" Billy asked finally, his voice very quiet.

"I haven't told her," I admitted. "But, I'm sure she's guessed it."

There was another long pause.

"I told you he wouldn't tell," said Leah, a slight smirk on her face.

"Shut up, Leah," said Sam, but his voice was softer when he said it. He turned to me, then. "Just how deep is this animosity?" he asked.

"She won't even call them him or her," I said. "It's always It. 'It deserved its fate.' 'It was an ugly thing.' 'It killed a person, right in front of me.' I gather the hate is mutual."

"Damn," hissed Sam. "She's not human, is she?"

"No," I said.

"And you're sure she won't start anything?" he asked.

"Not entirely," I admitted. "But, I'm sure that if I tell her to stop it, she will."

"How sure?"

"I'd stake my life on it."

Billy nodded slowly. "It's okay, Sam," he said. "If Embry trusts her, we can, too."

Sam glanced at Billy and nodded. "Okay," he said. "Just make sure you don't let her go too far, okay? I don't want to have to explain to Carlisle why his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are dead."

I shuddered, the image of a burned Edward and exactly what that would mean springing to mind. "I won't," I promised whole-heartedly.

We joined the others in the living room, then, acting as if nothing had happened. Olivia gave me a questioning look, but I just smiled and shook my head. She grinned back at me.

We chatted for awhile when we heard a car coming up the drive. Sam ran to the window. "It's them!" he called and was met with a stampede for the door.

Olivia held back. "His family should see him first," she said.

"Oh, you're as good as family and you know it," I told her. "Come on. I want you to meet him." I led her out of the house, holding her hand tightly, partly so she couldn't start anything.

In the yard, the shiny gold Malibu's engine shut down as Jake climbed out of the passenger side. A tall young woman with curly hair hanging down to her waist climbed from the driver's side. She wore a brown linnen skirt that hung to just below her knees, a brown blouse and little brown heals. She was absolutely gorgeous.

"Uncle Embry!" she called and raced to me, throwing her arms around my neck.

I was stunned enough to allow Olivia's hand to slip from mine. "Uh," I said. I had my suspicions, but I didn't believe it, really.

"And Uncle Quil!" she cried, releasing me and turning to hug Quil. She repeated the process with Sam and Leah.

Jake chuckled as he watched the looks on our faces. "Hey, maybe you want to remind them who you are," he said to her.

She laughed. "Right," she said. "It's Nessie, guys!"

I'm sure my eyes were popping out of my head and my chin was on the ground. "Oh, hell," I said. "Nessie? You've got to be kidding me! Just look at you!"

"Hey, aren't you, like, eight years old?" asked Quil, glancing at his Claire.

"Eight and a HALF, thank you very much," she said, one hand on her hip.

"Oh, god forbid we forget the half," said Jake with a grin as he slinked an arm around Nessie's shoulders.

"Hi, Nessie."

"Aunt Rachel!"

There was more hugging and kissing then and I turned to see what had become of Olivia. I spotted her standing about three paces behind me, glaring towards the car, an expression of such loathing on her face, I was sort of afraid to approach her. "Olivia," I said, reaching a hand out to her.

She didn't reply, just kept staring towards the car.

I turned to see Edward and Bella standing next to it, Edward echoing Olivia's expression, Bella looking confused and slightly offended.

As I watched, Edward strode forward and grabbed Nessie's arm. "Get away from there, Nessie," he said, venom in his voice. "Come on! Now!"

And then, Olivia spoke so loudly, it silenced everyone. "You have a treaty with- with THAT?" she demanded, looking even more angry.

"Olivia," I said quietly.

By now, everyone was aware of the pure loathing that dripped from both Edward and Olivia. Sam stiffened. Leah let out a low moan and Quil rushed Claire back into the house.

"Are you aware that you have a fozer on your land?" demanded Edward, more angry than I had ever seen him ever since I'd met him.

"You wanna have at it, Hemophile?" demanded Olivia. She snapped her arms down and they burst into flames from the elbow down. "Bring it on! I'm ready for you!"

I was so stunned by the absolute hatred in her voice, I didn't know what to do.

"If you touch my family, Fozer, I'll rip you to shreds!" spat Edward, pushing Bella and Nessie behind him.

As Olivia raised one flaming hand, I was reminded of the image of Edward burning and I sprang in front of her. "Olivia, don't," I commanded, frightened. "Remember your promise!"

She only continued to sneer at Edward over my shoulder.

"Olivia, please," I begged. "Please, don't. You promised."

Slowly, she lowered her arm, but kept glaring at Edward.

"Put those away," I ordered, pointing to her flaming arms.

She gave me an incredulous look. "I don't put them away," she said as if I were insane. "I turn them off!" She gave a little flick of her hands and the flame went out.

Sam cursed under his breath behind me. "Is she a witch?" he hissed to Leah.

Olivia glared at him. "I'm a Faerie," she sneered.

Edward snarled.

"What's going on?" asked Bella.

"I think I'd better go, Embry, before I nullify your treaty," Olivia sneered, glaring at Edward. She turned to stalk off, but I ran after her.

"Please, Olivia, don't go," I said. "Give them a chance. Edward and Bella are good people, I promise."

"I don't have any problems with her," said Olivia, nodding towards Bella. "Just the Vampire."

"Let her go, Embry," sneered Edward. "She's dangerous."

"ME dangerous?" Olivia spat, raising one hand above her head and conjuring a fire ball into it. "You're the blood sucker, here!"

She made to hurl the ball of flame, but I grabbed her arm. "Olivia, don't!" I said, nearly begging again. "Please! They're friends."

She glared at me sharply. "Friends?" she demanded. "You're friends with- with THAT?"

"Yes, Olivia, please," I begged.

She stared at me, incredulous, but I was relieved to see that the fire ball went out. "You do realize that they kill humans, don't you?" she said. "At least one a week."

"Not this one," I said, slowly releasing her arm. "He's different. He only drinks from animals."

"Are you sure?" she asked me.

"Positive," I replied.

She stared at me for a moment, and then turned and walked swiftly back to Edward, who hissed and backed right into the car when she got too close. "Oh, shut up," she snapped at him. "I'm examining you." She proceeded to peer at his eyes, her face about three inches from his. Finally, she backed up slowly, still wary and glaring. "Okay," she said. "Okay. I'll behave. But, only because Embry vouched for you."

Edward appeared to not want to trust her, but I stepped to his side. "It's fine, Edward," I said. "She's been here for a month and hasn't caused any trouble. And she's known Rachel for years."

Rachel, however, was staring at Olivia, stunned.

"Rachel," I said.

"Huh?" she said, snapping out of it. "Oh, right," she said. "Yeah, I went to college with Olivia. She never got in trouble or anything."

"You went to college with her?" asked Edward, appearing stunned now as well as angry.

"Yeah," said Rachel, returning to staring at Olivia.

"I'm still the same person you know, Rachel," said Olivia softly. "I'm still Olivia Casey."

Rachel nodded, but looked pained.

Olivia returned the look.

Edward chuckled.

Olivia's head snapped back to him and she looked angry again.

"Edward, please," I said.

Olivia glanced at Bella. "How'd you get saddled with a Vampire?" she asked, only a hint of the venom in her voice.

"He's nice," said Bella a bit defensively.

"I suppose, if you've got an Elder with you, you must be at least halfway decent," Olivia said grudgingly to Edward.

"Elder?" asked Sam.

"Let's go inside," I said, glancing at the sky. It looked like rain.

Everyone moved except Edward and Olivia, who were staring at me as if I were wearing a vulture skin jacket. "Please, guys," I pleaded with them. "Just try to ignore each other for a few hours, okay?"

Olivia took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "For you," she said.

"Right," I said. "Come on."

We followed the rest into the house; I made sure I stayed between Edward and Olivia, just for safety's sake.

"You sure know how to pick 'em," muttered Jake to me as he followed us in, one arm around Nessie's shoulders.

I gave him a wry grin. The next few hours were going to be filled with a lot of questions and I had no idea how we were going to keep Olivia's secret any longer.


	6. A Temporary Truce

Edward and Olivia stood at opposite ends of the room, arms crossed, glaring daggers at each other. Jake stood near Edward, Nessie at his side, talking soothingly to Edward while I did the same for Olivia. Bella just stood behind Edward- where he had forced her- looking confused at the whole situation. The rest of the Pack kept firing questions at us, but we ignored them. Leah and Sam tried to keep them all quiet while Jake and I attempted to calm our respective friends. Quil had hurried Claire home as soon as we'd come into the house- he hadn't gotten back yet.

"Please, Olivia," I said softly, hooking a stray strand of her hair with one finger and tucking it behind her ear. "Just give him a chance. He's okay, really. I had my doubts, too, at first, but he turned out all right. And you said it yourself- if he's got an elder with him, he must be all right." The jury was still out on whether or not Bella was an Elder, but given that Olivia knew about people instinctively, I believed her.

"And what about the rest of his 'family'?" she demanded, her voice quiet but spewing venom with every word. "What are they like?"

"They're all the same," I promised. "And Bella likes them all."

Olivia glared across the room at Edward and I couldn't resist a glance in his direction. His features had softened some, but he was still glaring back at her.

"All right," she said finally. "I'll be good. Just until everything is explained to everyone, then I'm out of here."

It was the best I could hope for. "I'll lend you my car," I promised. "So you can get home."

"Thank you," she said, looking truly grateful. Then, with some difficulty, she wiped the glare and the sneer from her features and looked impassively across the room at Edward. "I recommend a temporary truce," she said in a carefully neutral tone, just loud enough for him to hear. "For, say, an hour?"

Edward considered that for a moment. Finally, he nodded curtly.

"Good," said Sam, staring at Olivia. "First, I need to know what you are and what you can do."

Olivia looked slightly hurt at his tone. "When have I ever hurt any of your people?" she asked, her tone even more hurt than her features.

Sam considered her for a moment. "Fine," he said, his voice softer. "I trust you, okay? But, please tell me what you are."

Olivia hesitated.

"Olivia," said Leah, exasperated. "Embry imprinted on you. We'd have to protect you anyway, no matter what. Just by that fact alone, our lives are on the line. You may as well just tell him since we're behind you either way."

"All right," said Olivia with a heavy sigh. "I'm a Faerie. That is, a human-like immortal being with a certain set of what you would call magical powers. They're not magic, though. There's a scientific explanation as to why I can do what I can do, but it would require a couple centuries of study in the areas of astro- and quantum physics before you could even begin to grasp the very basics of the explanations. And after that, it would take me approximately five months to explain to you the why behind what I do. So, I won't bother you with those details."

"And what exactly can you do?" asked Sam, sounding merely curious this time and not authoritative.

"Well," she said and raised one hand into the air.

She gave them much the same demonstration she'd given me, starting with the ice ball, except that this time, she made it start raining and stop raining several times in a row. She didn't demonstrate time to them, only said, "I can manipulate time, too, but it's hard to see unless I'm literally on top of you."

Rachel was staring at her, an expression of wonder on her face. "Olivia!" she suddenly exclaimed, sounding affronted.

"What?"

"You could have changed the weather any time at all!" accused Rachel, a grin spreading across her face. "If we wanted to go to the beach- sun! And on Christmas- snow!"

"I try not to mess with the weather too much," said Olivia with a sad little grin.

"Why not?" asked Quil who had sneaked back in so quietly I hadn't noticed when he'd gotten back. "I would. I get tired of rain, sometimes."

"Well..." started Olivia. "Okay. Look, back in the 70's everyone was worried about global cooling. They thought we were heading for an ice age. Then, by the early to mid 80's, it was global warming. The polar ice caps are melting and we're all gonna drown because of all the water they'll create. That was sorta my fault."

"Your fault?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I was showing off and got carried away," she replied. "Put a massive thunder storm in the wrong place at the wrong time and it triggered the beginnings of an ice age. And then I overcompensated. I think I've got it sorted now, but I can never be sure. I'll know in another decade or two if I need to make any more adjustments."

Leah burst into laughter at that point and couldn't calm down for a long time. "All this time..." she gasped. "Humans think the climate change-" laugh, "- is our fault... and it's been YOU!" she exclaimed, still laughing.

"Yeah, one little Faerie can screw things up royally," said Thomas, joining Leah in laughter.

Olivia looked disgruntled though. "It's not funny," she said. "It's dangerous."

Edward looked as if he wanted to agree whole-heartedly.

"If she were that dangerous, dad, she wouldn't have told us about it," said Nessie pointedly.

Edward gave her a dangerous look, but Nessie only stood up straighter and looked VERY unconcerned.

Jake's arm slipped possessively around Nessie's shoulders and Edward's glare switched to him. "Don't think I won't fight you to protect her, Edward," he said. "You gave her to me, after all."

Nessie giggled and kissed Jake on the cheek. "You say that like I'm a baseball card," she said.

Jake grinned at her.

"So we have Faeries now, too," said Billy suddenly. I'd forgotten he was there.

"No," said Olivia. "You have Faerie. There's only me."

"Faeries don't travel alone!" said Edward, and his tone was surprised instead of angry or spiteful.

"This one does," said Olivia firmly.

Edward actually looked concerned now. "Where's your family?" he asked, sounding offended.

"In Ireland, where they belong," she said shortly. "Not that it's any of your business."

Edward bit his lips against a sharp retort that everyone could see in his eyes. "Just asking," he said, deliberately polite.

"You don't speak to them?" asked Leah.

"I do," said Olivia. "But, as I once told Embry, I have dangerous enemies. It's safer for them to be far away from me just in case my enemies come for me."

Everyone was quiet for awhile. Finally, Nessie crossed the room, ignoring her father's warning hiss and stood before Olivia. I was suddenly struck by how tall she was- her forehead was level with my nose- and realized that the one inch heals she was wearing couldn't account for all of it. "If your enemies come," she said gravely, "and the Pack stands with you- as we all know they will- I will be there, too."

Olivia's eyes showed a gratitude I could never have anticipated. It was a big change from her usual reserved self. "Thank you," she said. "And I, in turn, will come to your aide, should you need it."

Nessie glanced back at her father and grimaced. "I may need it sooner than you think," she said in an undertone, grinning. "He doesn't look happy, does he?"

Olivia returned the grin.

Nessie returned to Jake's side then, making sure to stay out of reach of her father this time. Edward appeared more annoyed than angry now, however. Bella nudged him gently. "Be nice," she hissed at him.

"Is there anything else you can do?" asked Sam, ignoring the Vampires.

"Just the things we all do," she said. "We heal very fast- if I were to run a knife along my arm, it would heal up right behind the blade- so fast it would look as if the blade weren't even doing any damage. That's the real reason we're immortal- we just heal really fast. We can change our outward appearance, too. I was born very dark skinned with wiry black hair. There are a lot of other little things we can do, too, but they're useless to anyone except us."

"Like what?" asked Sam, looking interested.

"Like being able to tell Vampires from Elders and Werewolves from Weremen and humans from Faeries and all the rest of them, just at a glance," she said. "And knowing our friends, no matter what forms they take. If one of my brothers walked through that door right now, even if I've never seen him in his current form, I'd know him instantly. We have photographic memories and we're fast and have extraordinary balance- by practice, though, not naturally."

"That's all?"  
"That's all."

"What was that you were calling each other out there?" asked Rachel, looking slightly stern. "They sounded like derogatory terms the way you were using them."

"They are," said Edward. "Hemophile-" he spat the word "is a sort of racial slur. Hemo- blood, and phile- one who loves. Basically, she was calling me a blood lover, but it has a nastier connotation than that. Sort of like the word 'pedophile' is nastier than just 'child lover'."

"And fozer- that is, F-A-U-X-E-R," started Olivia and I changed the way my mind saw the word. "Is just as nasty. Faux as in fake. Basically, they're calling us fakers because they say we 'fake' being human. Which we don't! The only reason we pretend is to blend in. We can't run around telling humans that Faeries exist and that we're really-" she cut herself off. "Never mind. The point is, we hate the word."

"And we hate Hemophile," added Edward with a sneer.

"All right, then," said Jake. "Those two words are banned on the rez."

Both Olivia and Edward glared at him.

"Hey, I'm not having any racial slurs on MY land," he said defensively.

"Me neither," said Billy.

Sam nodded in agreement. "If any of you want to come to the rez any more, you'll behave while you're here," he said. "I'm not having blood feuds- no pun intended, Edward, Bella- anywhere near here. Got it?"

Olivia nodded curtly and Edward said, "fine."

For the first time since Jake and the gang had driven up in the shiny Malibu, Emily spoke. "Why are you only glaring at Edward?" she asked Olivia.

Olivia glanced at Emily, who's face was carefully neutral. "Because he's the only Vampire here," she said.

Every eye in the room turned to Bella, who just grinned sheepishly. "That's technically true," she said. "Sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?" asked Sam.

"Well, what I mean is I'm a Vampire, but I'm more," she said. "It's hard to explain. We call ourselves Elders. We drink blood, are very pale and all the rest of it, but we've got a lot of advantages."

"Like what?"

"Well, remember when I was first turned and everyone was amazed at my control?" she asked. "That's one of them- extraordinary control, right from the start. We can keep our heads enough to interact with humans after only a week or sometimes even less, if there's enough incentive."

"Like not wanting to kill your dad," said Jake.

Bella grinned. "Yes," she said. "Like not wanting to kill my dad."

"Jake, don't interrupt," scolded Leah.

"Sorry."

"We can also pick up the special abilities of other Vampires we come across," Bella said. "So, I've been reading minds for years. And seeing the future. And controlling my and other people's emotions. And healing humans with a touch and electrocuting people with my skin and causing pain with my mind and eliminating all senses and a whole plethora of other things I've picked up along the way."

"How does one get to be an elder?" asked Sam.

"The same way one gets to be a Vampire," said Bella. "By bite. Since we're related to Vampires, it can be a Vampire who bites you. There are certain people who seem to be made for this life- they're the ones who are Elders. They've got certain characteristics as humans."

"And those would be..." coaxed Leah.

"Bella doesn't like to admit how wonderful she was as a human," said Edward with a grin. "Which, in itself, IS one of the characteristics- extreme humility. They're so humble, they tend to think everything is their fault. They also seem to lack a fear of physical danger and are only afraid of psychological attacks- mental abuse, rejection, that sort of thing. They're smarter than average and tend to pick up new skills very quickly. The only trouble is that their brains work faster than their bodies can keep up with, making them clumsy.

"And once they're changed, they're the strongest, fastest, most graceful ones among us; their bodies catch up with their minds. Their ability to pick up new skills translates into picking up the abilities of those around them. And their humility keeps any of it from going to their heads."

"A couple of them came to us just before we left the area," said Jake. "Nicolas and Luciana. They explained to us what Bella is and that the Volturi wanted her eliminated because they are afraid of the Elders. But, Nicolas and Luciana intended to keep her safe- they can sense when someone is looking for them, know who it is and, if they don't want to be found, keep the person from finding them and anyone they're with. They stayed with us until Bella picked that ability up, then went on their way."

"I think they went to Michigan," said Nessie. "I remember they said they had to go to Michigan for something."

"Oh, hey!" said Jake suddenly, his head whipping back to Bella. "You forgot to tell them the coolest bit! Go, on, show them how you go human!"

"Jake," moaned Bella, head ducking slightly in embarrassment.

"Come on, mum, it's cool!" said Nessie encouragingly.

Bella grinned slightly, then took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut and balled up her fists. For about half a second, she appeared to be VERY angry, and then her skin rippled and darkened ever so slightly, taking on a pinkish undertone and another heart started beating in the room. All of us 'weremen' could hear it.

"Oh, my GOD!" exclaimed Leah, jumping up and rushing forward. "You smell HUMAN! And she's warm! GOD!"

Then everyone had to check it out. In the end, we decided that she DID look more human than Edward, but not as human as Emily or Rachel. We declared her more like Nessie than anything, which pleased Nessie a lot.

Even Olivia was grinning now. "I've never seen one do that," she said. "There was one I've seen in both forms, but I never saw him actually change. Oddly enough, his name was Nicolas.

"Tall, long, silvery blond hair and soft eyes?" asked Nessie.

"Sounds like him."

"Same guy, then," Nessie said.

"Born in 73 BC?"

"Yep."

"That's him."

"That reminds me," said Jake. "Embry, when you told us about the group in Hoquiam, I had my suspicions, so I checked it out. It's Luciana and Nicolas with a girl they picked up in Michigan. She was dying of Leukemia. They could probably have healed her, but they felt she was a good candidate for an Elder, so they told her about themselves and she agreed to become one. Apparently, they had to fake her death so her parents and the rest of her family wouldn't wonder what had happened to her. She misses them and has been pretending her mother died in a car accident so nobody at the school asks too many questions."

"That's the girl!" said Olivia. "Miss Johansen! I knew she was an Elder."

"So they ARE Vampires," said Sam, scratching his chin. "Sort of."

"They're a lot safer than regular Vampires," said Olivia. "Even the 'vegetarian' variety."

"It's true," said Bella. "It's been years since humans smelled good to me."

Suddenly, Olivia swore.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I gotta go!" she said in a rush. "Maggie's going to be freaking out."

"Why?" I asked, looking around for a clock. I hadn't thought she'd been gone long enough to distress the dog.

"Because, animals can sense Vampires from quite a distance," she replied. "That's why I've got Maggie- she can sense them and she's been trained to warn me, only I'm not there for her to warn. She'll be tearing up my apartment trying to get out and find me to tell me."

I pulled my keys out of my pocket. "Here, take my car," I said. "I'll come by later."

"Thanks," she said, grabbing the keys and turning for the door quickly. She turned, her hand on the knob. "Truce off, hemo-" she stopped herself quickly. "Edward," she finished through clenched teeth. "You attack any humans- you even THINK about attacking any humans- and I rip your throat out, got it?"

Edward growled at her. She sneered and left the house.

Damn it. There was that pain again. She was unhappy and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it this time.

"You okay, Embry?" asked Leah.

I swallowed hard. "Yeah, I'm good," I lied, trying to make the pain in my chest ease. "Just..." I gestured vaguely towards the yard where my car could be heard starting up and crunching the gravel on the drive.

Jake caught my eye and I knew he understood that I was hurting because Olivia was hurting. I wondered if he'd ever experienced it himself. "Who's Maggie?" he asked and I knew it was only to cover up my discomfort.

"A Jack Russell terrier," I replied. "She's got lots of energy and thinks I'm her alpha."

Jake grinned. "Dogs always think we're their alphas," he said.

"Can we get back on topic?" asked Sam pointedly. "Now, do we have the whole story?"

"Unless anyone can think of anything else to ask," said Edward.

The rest of them struck up conversations with Edward or Bella or each other and I tried to look interested in what Collin and James were talking about, but couldn't keep my mind on it. Olivia was unhappy and there was nothing I could do about it. I wondered if this was how Sam had felt when Emily's father had died.

"You okay?" Jake asked me quietly. I hadn't even noticed him cross the room.

"She's unhappy, Jake, and there's nothing I can do about it," I said.

"You could eliminate Edward," he pointed out.

I glanced up at him sharply and saw that he was joking. His grin faded as I glared at him. "Yeah, sorry, not funny, I know," he said.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked helplessly. "I can't fix this for her without breaking the treaty and ruining some friendships!"

Jake placed a hand delicately on my shoulder. "There's nothing you CAN do," he said. "I know it kills you, but this one's out of your hands. The only people who can fix this for her are Edward and Olivia."

"I don't see that happening any time soon," I said.

"Me either," admitted Jake. "Does she at least know what it does to you when she's unhappy?"

"Yeah," I said miserably. "Which is going to make her that much more unhappy."

Jake sighed. "Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do," he said. "I know it kills you, but that's the way it is."

"Has Nessie ever been unhappy when you couldn't do anything?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Jake darkly. "A few months ago. When things changed between us. We'd stayed in that whole 'uncle and spoiled niece' routine long after she'd reached maturity. Then, one day in Brazil, along comes that Nahuel guy-remember him? The part Vampire who helped us out with the Volturi? Anyway, he comes along, flirting up a storm and it made me jealous and I realized I had to do something. So, as soon as he'd gone, I got Nessie on her own and kissed her. She was ecstatic, of course, but Edward got the wrong idea. He nearly tore me apart- something about what Nessie was thinking about when we got back. Apparently, she has a dirty mind. Anyway, she begged him to let us get married, but he wouldn't. She cried. I couldn't do anything about it. Edward was adamant. Bella kept trying to convince him, but he wouldn't budge for a long time. It killed me, Embry. And that made her even more unhappy."

"How did you handle it?"

Jake sighed. "I didn't," he said. "I was miserable for months. And Nessie was miserable. I think that's what eventually convinced Edward- Nessie being so miserable, I mean. Olivia's smart. She'll eventually realize how miserable she's making you and make some sort of effort at peace with Edward. And, after she's tried- whether or not he meets her halfway, at least she'll have made the first move and we can beat Edward's head in if he hurts her."

"Sometimes, I'm really glad you're my friend," I said, grinning at Jake. The thought of being able to do something about Olivia's unhappiness made me feel a bit better.

"Yeah, I know," said Jake with a grin. "I'm pretty great."

Jake was infectious. He always made me feel better.

...............................

I got to Olivia's place about an hour and a half later. I'd run through the woods as far as I could and walked the last couple of blocks. Maggie met me at the doorway, looking very worried. I scratched her behind her ears. "It's okay," I said and her tail wagged vaguely as if she was unsure if she should be wagging it. "Don't worry. They're good guys. I promise."

Maggie sat down and whined, her ears down.

I looked around and saw that the drapes and blinds were gone from the living room. One chair in the kitchen was overturned with a clamp holding one of the legs in. I walked farther in and found a huge mess in Olivia's office, which was actually a bedroom where she kept her computer desk and stored a bunch of stuff. Boxes were knocked over, the blinds on the single, high window were hanging at an odd angle and were ripped in several places. The chair by the desk had been knocked over.

"Olivia?" I called.

"Upstairs!" came the faint call.

I took the stairs two at a time. I swore when I saw the upstairs landing. It was a huge mess. I couldn't even pick out single objects in the scattered junk. "Did Maggie do all this?" I asked.

"Not all of it," she said, poking her head out of the bedroom. "I did some of it."

"You did?"  
She nodded. "I was angry with you and didn't want to rip you to shreds," she said. "So I ripped unimportant things instead. I think I'd regret it if I killed you."

I stared at her, the pain in my chest deepening. "You were angry with me?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, throwing more shredded junk into the pile in the landing. "I thought that if you had just told me there was a Vampire coming, I could have taken precautions and Maggie wouldn't have gone crazy and I wouldn't have to buy new blinds. But, you didn't even know she was trained to warn me about Vampires and you had no idea she'd go so crazy trying to get out of the house and find me. Shredding things helped me realize that and I'm not angry anymore."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "Yes, I'm sure," she said. "It's not your fault. Although, you might have warned me. You can't have missed that I hate Vampires."

"Why DO you hate them so much?" I asked, heading into her bedroom to help her clean up.

"All Faeries hate all Vampires," she said. "And the feeling is mutual. There's been a war going on for so long, nobody's even sure who started it and since we both have long memories, we don't get along."

"Do you remember what the war is about?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "The war is about protecting humans- something the Elders do wonderfully, but with which the Vampires are unconcerned. Since most Vampires kill humans, the Fey tried to stamp them out on more than one occasion. Personally, I think the Fey started the war, but nobody is sure."

"How do you stamp out Vampires?" I asked, gathering the bits of what looked like an alarm clock off the floor and dumping them in the hall.

"Kill them, of course," she replied. "There's two ways to kill them. One is hard, the other is dreadfully easy. The hard way is to chop them up in bits and burn it all. The easy way is to get them to taste Faerie blood."

"Why would tasting your blood kill them?" I asked.

"It's poisonous to them," she said. "But, once they get a taste, they can't stop drinking it. They can't smell our blood, though, so the trick is getting some of it on their tongue. Once that's done, they'll drink until they're full. And since our bodies replace blood more quickly than they can drink it, we survive."

"Doesn't their venom hurt you?"  
"It'll make us horribly sick for a couple of days," she said. "Sort of like the flu. But, we survive it. It'll also heal us even quicker than normal, so if we've got any really severe injuries, they'll stitch up in a matter of minutes."

"But, it won't kill you."

"No."

"And it won't turn you into a Vampire."

"No."

I stored that knowledge away for future reference without really knowing why.

We finished cleaning the upstairs and started on the computer room. Olivia thought that now that Maggie knew that she knew about the Vampire, she wouldn't have any more trouble, but decided that Maggie would get locked in the spare bedroom upstairs when she was gone. She even talked about making it a little place just for Maggie- put her little doggie bed in it and her toys and maybe even a stereo so Maggie could have music on when she was alone.

I did stay with her that night even though it made me crazy to do so. I suddenly wanted to do whatever she wanted me to do to make up for not being able to do anything about the Edward situation.

The next morning, I woke to the sounds of a flute playing downstairs. It was so perfect and clear and haunting, I thought it was a recording, but when I trumped downstairs, I found Olivia sitting in the middle of the living room floor, a shiny silver flute at her lips.

"Good morning," I said, stretching.

She finished on a very low, dark sounding note, playing so quietly, it was almost not there. "Good morning," she said, twisting around to smile up at me.

"What was that you were playing?" I asked.

"Syrinx, by Debussy," she replied, getting to her feet. "It's complicated because there's no right or wrong way to play it. It's sort of one huge cadenza, really, rather than scored music."

"I have no idea what a cadenza is," I confessed.

She smiled at me. "Never mind," she said. "It's not important. Want breakfast?"

"You don't have to cook me breakfast," I said.

"Sure I do," she said, setting her flute on the coffee table and heading into the kitchen. "I sorta made you miserable yesterday, so I owe you some love. What'll it be? Eggs? Pancakes? Both?"

"It wasn't that bad," I said, following her. "No, really, Olivia, you don't have to make me breakfast. I mean it! Stop." I tried to pull her away from the refrigerator. "Olivia, listen," I said. "Really, it's okay. You don't have to make anything up to me."

"Maybe not for you, but for me," she said. "Embry, I've been kicking myself all morning for making things difficult for you. If I don't do something to make up for it soon, I'll go mad. Now, sit down and tell me what you want for breakfast."

I sighed, but did as I was told.

A three-egg, salami, cheese and mushroom omelet and huge glass of orange juice later and Olivia was feeling much better about herself. If this was all it took to make her happy, I thought I could keep up.

She let me listen to her play the digital piano that was in the extra bedroom upstairs. I could listen to her play forever. She was very good.

"Yeah, well, I've been playing since the Pianoforte was invented," she pointed out when I complimented her. "And before that, the harpsichord and organ. I'd better be good."

I grinned at her. "Think you could teach me?" I asked

"Sure, come here," she said, standing from the small piano bench and motioning me over. "I'll have you playing in ten minutes flat."

I doubted that, but ten minutes later, I was playing a tune I recognized as Frere Jacques. "Amazing," I said, grinning at her. "You're a phenomenal teacher."

"Well, you've only learned a melody line and you can't read the music if I sat it in front of you, but you can play," she said. "If you're serious, I can teach you to read music and everything."

"Maybe some day," I said, standing from the piano. "For now, I'll just listen to you play. You're centuries better than me."

She grinned, cracked her knuckles, sat down and began playing something I recognized, but couldn't put a name to. "I'm still making up for yesterday, you know," she said.

"I'm fine, really," I promised.

"I'm not making up to you," she said, barely paying attention to her playing. "I'm making up to me. I feel rotten about it."

"You can't help not liking Vampires," I told her.

"No, I mean the things I said about you before you got here," she said. "They were pretty nasty."

"What were they?" I asked, feeling a grin spread across my face.

"Oh, no," she said. "I will not repeat them to you. They were terrible and I need to atone for them. I don't want to screw up my penance by saying them again."

"You're making up for them even though nobody heard them?"

"Maggie heard them."

On the floor, Maggie's ears perked up and she looked at me.

"Will you tell me?"

She huffed and laid down.

"Didn't think so."

Olivia laughed and went on playing.

I helped her move the boxes from her office into the HUGE closet in the spare bedroom, and then we moved the digital piano and the other instruments from the spare bedroom into the office. She started making up a room for Maggie- right now it just had her doggie bed and a few toys in it. She had a portable stereo to put in it, but she wanted to get a shelf on the wall for it first.

I went with her to Port Angeles to buy some new blinds at Sears. It turned out to be good that Maggie had destroyed the old ones because when we got the new ones up, Olivia decided she liked them better, although I suspected she might be just saying that to make me feel better.

I stayed with her again that night and Maggie crawled under the covers to sleep between my legs. I didn't mind, too much, but informed her the next morning that if Olivia ever agreed to marry me, she'd have to sleep elsewhere.

Maggie only huffed at me as if to say, "I was here first."

I had to hurry to get back home, shower and dress before heading off to school. I was late again, but in a considerably better-although somber- mood than I had been of late which started more rumors. Some of the guys were offering me congratulations throughout the day and I just grinned at them. High school boys are all the same. I should know; I used to be one.


	7. Cherry Lozenge

Olivia and Edward tried to avoid each other as much as possible after that. I was able to ignore the dull ache in my chest most of the time. Unless someone mentioned Edward, Olivia didn't show her irritation on the subject so it didn't hurt me so much.

The kids at school were taking bets on when Mr. Call would announce his engagement with the tall, pretty Miss Casey, who was a favorite substitute teacher at the school. She substituted for the phys ed class one rare, sunny day and had the kids all out running in the dirt, repeating her 'military chants' back to her and 'sounding off' at the end. Mostly, her chants were silly rhymes that made no sense, but my second period class had just come from there and all were in good spirits, laughing and repeating some of the chants for me. To my surprise, one of them was a Native Pride sort of thing and they said that she SHOULD be saying things like that if she was going to marry me.

I just grinned at the thought.

I had no end of teasing from Abe, who felt it was his mission in life to be the best older brother he could. He adored Olivia, too, and informed me that if I didn't marry her soon, he was going to assume she was fair game and ask her out himself.

"I've known her for a month and a half!" I protested. "You don't get married after a month and a half!"

"I know you want to," Abe said, settling himself on the edge of my desk while I graded papers. "I can see it in your eyes. If she would agree to it, you'd take her to the courthouse today and marry her."

I opened my mouth to deny it, but couldn't. "Well, all right," I admitted reluctantly. "But, I'll wait for her as long as she needs me. And if you even THINK about-'

"Hey, hey," said Abe, holding up both hands in surrender. "I was teasing you. I wouldn't try to steel your girl, especially when you've got that far with her this quickly."

I frowned. I knew this topic was going to come up eventually with Abe. "Yeah, about that," I said slowly, feeling the need to defend Olivia's reputation. "You shouldn't listen to rumors the students start. They don't always have the straight of it."

Abe studied me. "You mean you're NOT sleeping with her?" he asked.

"No," I said. "Well, technically, yes, but that's all it is: sleeping. She wants to wait until she's married for anything else."

"Really?" he asked. "Wait a minute, are you saying she's a virgin?"

I shrugged. "She says she is," I replied. "I believe her. I have no reason to doubt her, anyway."

"Yeah, but Embry, a girl like that must have had a lot of guys wanting her," he argued. "She's gorgeous and sweet and she spoils you rotten. How many times has she made you breakfast this week?"

"Including today, 6," I replied.

"Right," he said as if I'd just proven his point. "How does a girl like that stay pure until the age of- how old is she?"  
"She'll be thirty in June," I replied. More like thirty thousand. Or maybe million, I didn't really know, but I couldn't tell Abe that.

"Okay, so how did she stay pure until the age of 30, then?" he asked.

"She says she's never found anyone worthy enough," I said. "And anyway it's none of your business. I shouldn't even have told you." I stood and began neatly stacking the papers I'd just finished grading.

"Well, I wouldn't believe her," he said.

I wanted to slug him. "Shut up, Abe, if you know what's good for you," I snapped.

"Hey, man, no need to get snippy," he said.

"When you talk about Olivia that way, there's every need," I told him.

"All right, man, sorry," he said, not sounding at all sorry. "I didn't mean to tarnish your girl's honor or anything."

I took a deep breath before looking up at him. "I know," I said. "You were just saying you find it unbelievable. I overreacted. Sorry."

"No, man, it's cool," said Abe. "I should keep my mouth shut."

"It IS unbelievable," I admitted. "But, for now, I believe her. She's got no reason to lie about it."

"I suppose not," said Abe, standing. "Well, I'd better get out. I've got my own papers to grade."

"Don't give out too many A's," I advised as he left the room.

As I was locking the door of my classroom on the way out, my phone rang. It was Jake. I flipped the phone opened and put it to my ear. "Hey, Jake, what's going on?" I said.

"How soon can you get here?" he asked.

"Well, I'm just leaving school," I said. "About ten minutes?"

"Correction: how soon can you get here with Olivia?"

"About fourty-five minutes, why?" I asked.

"Sam just called," said Jake. "The Johansens want to meet with everyone. They're going to be here in about an hour."

"Does everyone include Edward?" I asked, heading out to my car.

He hesitated. "Yes, it does," he said.

I groaned. "You know what it's like when Edward and Olivia get together," I said.

"Yeah, I know, but they said everyone and the rain is supposed to hold off until tomorrow morning," he said. "We can't fit both Packs in the house even without all the wives and girlfriends and fiancés and all the rest, so it'll have to be outside. Please, Embry, just get her here. We'll keep her and Edward on opposite sides of the yard so they don't have to even look at one another if they don't want to."

I sighed. "All right, I'll get her there and make her promise to behave," I promised.

"Great, thanks, Embry!" said Jake and I could hear the grin in his voice. "I owe you."

"Yeah, you do," I said and disconnected. I dialed Olivia and gave her the information I had.

"You want me to spend the rest of the afternoon and perhaps a good deal of the evening with the Vampire?" she asked, incredulous.  
"_I_ don't!" I said. "_I'd_ be happy if you never had to see him again, but this is Jake asking. He's my alpha. I gotta do what he says."

"Convenient," she said, disgruntled. "Fine. I suppose I can put up with him for a few hours."

"Thanks, Olivia," I said, putting as much gratitude into my voice as was possible.

"Anything for you," she said "I like Leah a lot better. She never made me hang out with the Vampire."

At least she wasn't calling him Hemophile anymore. "It never came up," I told her. "He wasn't here at the time. And, I'm sure if she were still Alpha, she'd have made you come, too."

"Hm," said Olivia noncommittally. "See you in a few." She disconnected.

Great, she was annoyed. The ache in my chest deepened and I climbed into my car, a little irritated. What did she want me to do, anyway? Sam and Jake said everyone and that meant everyone. And what were Sam and Jake doing ordering everyone there, anyway? Couldn't they do this without Olivia? The situation made her uncomfortable and I had no idea why they couldn't see that and realize that it made ME uncomfortable, too!

I took several deep breaths before starting the car. Driving when stressed tended to make one's diving habits erratic, which caused one to burn more fuel. It's true. I saw it on Myth Busters.

I made it to Olivia's apartment in about twenty minutes. She must have been watching because she came out the front door and headed to my car. "I don't know WHY I have to be there," she said irritably as she climbed into the passenger seat. "I already know the Johansens."

"Please, Olivia," I said, the pain in my chest stabbing at me now.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me. "I'm so sorry, Embry!" she said. "It's just been one big crappy day for me and now I have to spend the remainder of it with the Vam- I mean Edward. I'll try to behave, okay?"  
"Thanks," I said as we pulled away. "You wanna tell me about it?"

"Not really," she said. "It's just Faerie stuff. You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."  
So, she launched into a description of the problems she was facing today. She was right. I didn't understand why the sudden change in air pressure was so terrible or why the shifting of a very minor fault line nearby should disturb her so much if she didn't even feel the tremor or why her neighbor running a fever should ruin her day so completely. Nor could I work out why one of these things wouldn't bug her so much but when they all came on the same day, they just pressed her down.

"You don't understand," she said dejectedly.

"No," I admitted, shutting off the engine- we'd arrived at Jake's. "But, just because I don't understand doesn't mean that I don't care."

She smiled at me. "Thanks, Embry," she said, leaning over and kissing me. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I said.

She took a deep breath. "Okay, I can do this," she said, reaching for the door handle. "I'll just ignore It, that's all."

"Him," I corrected.

"Yes, I'll ignore _him_," she agreed. She took another deep breath. "Okay, let's go before I change my mind."

We climbed from the car and headed for the backyard. Edward and Bella were already there. From their windswept hair, I gathered that they'd run. I kept Olivia deliberately on the opposite side of the yard and she and Edward immediately set to glaring at one another.

Nessie hurried over and hugged me and Olivia. "Jake's about to open shop," she said. "He's got so much work lined up already and doesn't have a good place to do it. He's buying a house with a big garage where he can work for now and we'll have our own place! It'll be great!"

Jake was the best mechanic the rez had ever had. Nobody was really sure how he'd gotten his instinct about automobiles, but he could tell if a part was bad just by looking at it, even if there was no visible damage. "That's great," I told Nessie. "Jake's pretty brilliant."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "He used to pick up extra cash fixing cars while we were in Brazil. He's got quite a lot saved up." She turned to Olivia. "How are you?" she asked. "I haven't seen you since we first met."

"I'm all right," said Olivia wearily. "It's just been one of those days."

"I guess the air pressure and the earthquake and daylight savings have been giving you hell," said Nessie sympathetically.

Olivia looked surprised. "Yeah," she said. "How did you know about that?"  
"Elementals have trouble with those sorts of things," said Nessie wisely. "I met a Full Elemental once and he used to have trouble with those big changes. I can't imagine what it would be like for a Whole Elemental."

Olivia mouthed wordlessly for a moment, looking both astonished and highly impressed. "Yeah," she finally managed. "It makes for a really bad day."

"Add to that the fact that they made you come…" Nessie trailed off.

And then, Olivia did something I'd never seen her do. She threw her arms around Nessie, laughing, and hugged her.

Olivia was always so understated in everything that when she had a reaction like this, I was always dumbfounded. Sometimes, she almost seemed like a really bad actor portraying a badly written character, but at times like these, I was reminded of the depth of her emotion.

Nessie, however, had no idea what Olivia was really like, so after half a second of shock, her face quickly turned to chagrin as she returned the hug.

"Oh, Nessie you're absolutely wonderful!" Olivia exclaimed, still laughing.

"Thanks," said Nessie nervously. "But, I'm not entirely sure what I did…"

"You understood!" said Olivia, pulling away and placing a hand on each side of Nessie's face. "You just completely surprised me by totally understanding what I'm going through. Or you're at least _trying_ to understand." She smiled warmly at Nessie as she dropped her hands to her side. "If your dad's eyes were guns, he'd have shot me twelve times by now."

Nessie laughed and turned to glance at her dad, who was glaring VERY hard at the two of them. "Ouch," she said, wincing. "Yeah, he probably would've given me a couple bullets to chew on, too."

"Nessie, maybe it's best NOT to antagonize your father," I said nervously.

"I didn't do it on purpose," defended Nessie. "He really needs to relax."

"He can hear you, you know," I pointed out.

"That's why I'm careful not to say anything that would REALLY make him angry," she said with a grin. "But, he DOES need to relax. Even mom says so."  
"He's sending Jake over," I warned.

Jake jogged easily across the yard towards us, grinning. "Your dad wants you to get away from 'that thing' as he so eloquently put it," he said. "He needs to work on his creativity. Honestly, even Claire could've come up with that one."

"Claire's bright, Jake, so that's not saying much," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I meant the two-year-old Claire," he amended. "The one I remember from before I left She could've come up with it."

Olivia was now busy giving Edward a look that said quite clearly which word she would like to use to describe him. I believe it had something to do with his parents' marital status at the time of his birth. "Well, THAT can just stay on ITS side of the yard and let everyone else do as they please," she said.

Edward's eyes narrowed.

"All right," sighed Jake. "Both of you, that's enough. No more insults on the rez. Got it?"

Olivia nodded and Jake turned in time to see Edward give up his glaring contest with Olivia and give Jake a resigned look.

"They're coming," came Bella's ringing voice from across the yard.

Sure enough, seconds later, the sound of crunching gravel could be heard on the driveway. The engine stopped and three doors slammed. Nobody moved as three people came around the corner of the house- one man and two women. The man was tall with long, silvery-blond hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was dressed like a lawyer- three piece navy blue suit complete with handkerchief in the pocket. The older of the two women had shoulder length auburn hair and was dressed in black pants, red sweater and all silver jewelry. The younger woman- who could pass for anywhere between 15 and 27- had long blond hair and was dressed in jeans, black converse All-Stars and a green sweater. She looked very sad, but was eying Jake's house with mild interest.

Nobody moved at first. Finally, Claire- who had bugged Quil so much about letting her come meet the new people that he'd finally agreed- marched right up to them and held out a hand to them. "Hi," she said. "I'm Claire."

The blond girl's head snapped quickly to stare at Claire in amusement. A slow smile spread across her face as she took Claire's hand and shook it gently. "Hello, Claire," she said, her voice a soft contralto. "I'm Claire."

Claire the girl giggled. "Cool!" she said. "My middle name's May, what's yours?"

Claire the Elder laughed, too. "June," she said.

Olivia laughed, too, then, and finally took the three steps to stand before the three newcomers. "I'm Olivia Casey," she said. "Although Nicolas knows me as Zu'rima."

"Ah, yes," said Nicolas. "The Whole Elemental. I met you centuries ago. You were African then, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," Olivia said.

"This is my mate, Luciana," Nicolas introduced them. "Luciana, an old acquaintance of mine, the Princess Zu'rima, or as she is known now, Olivia."

Luciana shook hands with Olivia. "I wonder," she said. She looked down at her own arms, rolled up her sleeves and almost immediately, her arms burst into flames from the elbows down.

"Wow," said Olivia, back to her old, emotionless self. "Amazing."

"Miraculous," said Nicolas as Luciana put out the fires. "Luciana is Miraculous."

"I discovered somewhere along the way that I was picking up abilities from an unknown source," explained Luciana, rolling her sleeves back over her now flameless arms. "I had just begun to suspect that that source may be Faeries, since we don't always know when we come into contact with them."

"You've met Faeries before?" Unnoticed by any of us, Edward had crept up to stand about 10 feet from the group, doing his best to ignore Olivia. Olivia wrinkled her nose and stepped back several paces.

Claire the Elder's head cocked to one side as she looked at Edward. "You're Edward," she said. "For some reason, you've been in a lot of my visions. I don't know why. And so has Olivia. The two of you will do great things and apparently, I get to see them all!"

Edward looked startled and glanced at Olivia. "What sort of great things?" he asked, turning his attention back to Claire.

Claire shrugged. "I can't tell you that," she said. "That would be self-fulfilling prophesy. I'd rather just watch it play out. Does anyone know a man by the name of Xaviér?" she asked, gazing at Jake's house again.

We all looked at each other.

"I don't think so," said Jake.

"Hm," said Claire. "I'm going to meet him here at some point."

Sam stepped forward then and started introducing the rest of us. When they came to me, Claire grinned and glanced between Olivia and me several times before finally turning her attention back to Sam, who was now introducing Leah.

"Oh!" said Luciana. "A werewoman! There are so few of you, you know."

Leah looked shocked. "I thought I was the only one," she said.

"There have been a few others," said Luciana. "I met one in Michigan. She was very old, but still looked about fifty. Brilliant and strong- all of them are. Not many women can deal with this life. You must be strong indeed if you have been chosen. Your children will be many and strong."

Leah blinked. "But, I can't…." she trailed off.

Luciana appeared to be reading her mind. "Wolves don't bleed, dear," was all she said. She then reached out to touch Leah's cheek.

Leah stiffened for a moment, then blinked at Luciana again. She swore. "Are you sure?" she asked, slightly panicked.

"Positive," said Luciana.

"Leah, are you okay?" asked Jake, looking concerned.

"I think so," said Leah. "I just… Jake, she just did what Nessie does!"

Most of us were shocked, but Nessie, Jake, Edward and Bella all looked unphased.

"Well, yeah," said Nessie. "She DID spend a couple of years with me, after all. She picked that talent up after a couple of weeks."

"You see?" said Nicolas, looking at Luciana in a very exultant manner. "She is miraculous. I've never known another Elder to pick something up from a Faerie or a half Vampire before."

"Neither have I," admitted Olivia. "And I've met quite a few."

"Luciana's even managed to give birth," said Claire admiringly. "Three times. I know in our other form we can bear children, but it takes months and I can't stand staying that way longer than a few hours."

"I've been practicing," admitted Bella. "I've made it three weeks so far. When it's important to you, you'll be able to do it."

"Wait, Elders can have natural children?" asked Olivia.

"Yes, we can," admitted Luciana. "As Claire said, it is difficult. I had to stay in my human form for several months each time. That form grates on our nerves if we stay in it for too long. The longest I made it was 5 months- for my eldest child, who is now 13 years old- looks like she's 25- and is living in Canada with her mate."

"And are these natural children sort of like the half vampires, then?" asked Olivia. "Or would they be fully Elders, since both of their parents are Elders."

"They are all full Elders," said Luciana. "But, they are MUCH more comfortable in their human forms than we who were turned are."

"Our eldest, also a daughter, took up with a Vampire in Australia," added Nicolas. "She convinced him to only hunt animals, as Edward and his coven do. Her son is also an Elder, though his father is a Vampire."

"How old is she?" asked Bella, looking very interested.

Luciana smiled. "She is one thousand two years old," she answered proudly.

"So she was born when you'd been an Elder for only nine years," said Bella, looking exultant.

Luciana just grinned knowingly.

Olivia nudged me gently and gestured vaguely towards Leah, who was looking extremely panicked. "What's wrong?" I asked Olivia quietly as the rest of the group headed farther into the yard and were swarmed by just about everyone there.

Olivia shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know," she said and at once headed over to stand beside Leah. "Are you okay?" she asked her.

Leah looked up at Olivia, eyes wild. "I- I don't know," she said, obviously frightened. "I mean, if what she told me is true... Oh, god..."

Olivia's eyebrows scrunched down as she studied Leah carefully. "Hey, come on," she said, putting an arm around Leah's shoulders. "It can't be that bad."

Leah looked up and spotted me, then. "Embry, remember what we talked about awhile ago?" she asked me. "About Bradon?"

I felt my face grow hot. "Yeah, I remember," I said. Who could forget a girl telling them how much and how often she wanted her fiancé?

"She just told me all about it," said Leah, looking even more panicked than before. "Wolves don't bleed. Did you hear that? Of course they don't. But, every year, they go into heat." She paused, staring at me significantly.

I gasped at the same time Olivia did. "You mean, you..." I trailed off.

"Yes!" exclaimed Leah. "And it's all just stopped suddenly. Just a couple of days ago! And my wedding's still three weeks away!"

"You won't be showing by then," Olivia reassured her quietly. "In fact, I'll bet a pregnancy test doesn't even come up positive until well after the wedding. Don't worry. You can just tell everyone he's premature."

Leah took several deep breaths and appeared to calm down. "You're right," she said. "And maybe it's nothing. Maybe I just timed out. You know, like it's too late now so I won't have any this year. That happens sometimes with wolves, doesn't it?"

"I'm sure it does," said Olivia. "Just try not to panic for now. Look, Bradon's getting worried. Come on, let's go talk to him and tell him you're okay."

"We CAN'T tell him this!" hissed Leah.

"No, we won't tell him, don't worry," said Olivia, steering Leah towards Bradon. "We'll just tell him that you were shocked by Luciana's power, that's all."

They made their way to Bradon's side and Olivia explained to him in quiet enough tones that I couldn't hear what she said. Bradon smiled and pulled Leah into his arms, comforting her. "My poor Leah," I heard him coo to her.

Olivia returned to my side, grinning. "If I ever sound like that, shoot me," she said.

"You sound like that a lot," I told her. "It's your way of apologizing for things that are out of your control, I think. 'My poor Embry.' I hear it all the time."

"I do NOT!" she defended, eyes wide.

"Yes, you do," I told her, grinning down at her.

"Oh, that's dis_gus_ting!" she said, looking appalled with herself.

"You don't quite coo it, though, like he did," I said, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Well, that's something," she said.

"You purr it."

"Hey!"

I laughed at her expression. She looked half scandalized and half amused. "I like it, if it's any consolation to you," I told her.

She shrugged. "I suppose it is," she said.

I glanced towards the Johansens. Claire the Elder was now talking with Claire the girl while Quil hovered protectively over them. Claire the girl reached out to take Claire the Elder's hand and started dragging her across the yard, talking excitedly about a bird's nest complete with eggs. Luciana was busy showing off baby- and adult- pictures of her children, both natural and those she and Nicolas had turned into Elders and bragging of their accomplishments. Nicolas kept snapping his arms down in an effort to duplicate the firearms his wife had demonstrated earlier. He wasn't having much luck keeping them burning, though. They would erupt into flames which would die almost immediately. Jake and Nessie were encouraging him to keep trying.

"Nobody's really paying attention," I said, slipping an arm around Olivia's waist. "We could slip off if you want."

"No, we can't," she replied. "Sam's expecting that. He keeps glancing over here. We'd better join them or he might come over here and tell you off for alienating us."

"Sam wouldn't do that," I said. "Besides, he's not my Alpha."

"Then he'd send Jake," she said. "Jake would be nicer about it, but he'd still tell you off. And he might tell me off, too, because he knows me better than Sam does."

"Likes you better, too," I said, noticing Sam's look this time. "Sam's wary of you."

"I noticed," she said, unconcerned. "Well, come on. Let's just steer clear of _him_."

"Of course," I said.

We joined the two Claires, who were about three feet off the ground in a tree looking at a bird's nest. "I think we're scaring her," Claire the elder was saying gently. "It's okay, sweetie. We're just curious."

And, to our surprise, the little mother bird started trilling out a song to them.

Claire the girl gasped. "How did you DOthat?" she demanded.

"I can charm animals," replied the Elder with a soft smile. "It makes hunting easier."

"You don't hunt birds, though," said the girl sternly.

"No," answered the Elder. "Except for the evil ones. This one's not evil."

"There are evil birds?"

"Sure there are," said Olivia form our place on the ground. "Swans, for instance."

The Elder grinned wryly, but the girl frowned. "Swans aren't evil!" she insisted.

"They're pretty bad," said the Elder. "Come on, let's leave this mother to her nesting. I'm sure she's hungry and her mate will be wanting to bring her some food, but he cannot if we are here."

The girl climbed down from the tree and the Elder leaped down, landing lightly in front of Olivia. "You really ARE going to be QUITE remarkable, you know," she said. "And much sooner than you think."

Olivia was startled. "What exactly does that mean?" she asked.

The Elder just smiled at her and followed the girl off to another corner of the yard where they discovered an abandoned hole in a tree where the girl was sure a squirrel had lived for the winter. The Elder agreed, saying the smell of squirrel was all over the place.

"What does she MEAN by that?" demanded Olivia. "And, further more, did she mean that Edward and I will do great things TOGETHER, or separately? The way it sounded, we were going to work together, but I can NOT see us working together any time soon."

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "It's probably nothing."

"Prophesies from Elders are NEVER nothing," she insisted.

Four distinct, yet simultaneous gasps caught our attention. I glanced around to see Luciana, Nicolas, Bella and Claire the Elder all standing stiffly, staring around at each other.

"What is it?" asked Claire the girl, looking curious. "What's happened?"

"Quil, take Claire into the house, please," said Bella calmly.

"No!" said Claire stubbornly. "I wanna stay!"  
"How delicate is it, Bella?"

"Very," Bella said darkly.

"Come on, Claire, in the house," said Quil.

"Quil!"

"Now, Claire!"

Claire went, stomping her feet and muttering all the way and Quil looked pained, but followed her inside. A few moments later, he came out and announced Billy was keeping her occupied.

Sam and Jake both turned to Bella and the Elders, who had gathered together. "What happened?" asked Sam.

"I couldn't see clearly," said Claire, looking worried. "But, it was definitely the Volturi."

Bella nodded in agreement. "Definitely," she said.

"What did they want?"

"We do not know that they wanted anything," said Nicolas, somewhat less concerned than his counter parts. "My vision was somewhat clearer than Claire's. They are currently meeting. Usually, when we have visions of the Volturi, they are important, but I do not know why this one would be."

"Are they coming here?" asked Olivia, voice completely devoid of all emotion. I glanced at her to see that her face was just as completely emotionless.

"No," said Nicolas. "At least not that I saw. They are simply holding some sort of official meeting at their home in Italy."

"Perhaps, once they have decided what they are doing, we shall have more information," said Luciana. "But, as for now, there is simply a meeting of some importance."

"Tell us the instant you have more information," ordered Sam.

"More than likely, they have detected the presence of four Elders in the same place and are attempting to decide if they should do something about it," said Nicolas. "But, even if they decided to do anything, they could not win."

Claire's face took on a stony look as she nodded in agreement.

"Still, I don't like the idea of all those Vampires coming here for a third time," said Sam.

"Nor do I," admitted Edward.

"Nor I," said Olivia.

A look passed between Edward and Olivia that held the promise of alliance against a common foe. Edward seemed to see Olivia in a different light and Olivia seemed to be seeing the man behind the Vampire. After only half a moment, though, the look dissolved into their usual scowls and they went back to ignoring each other.

It was a start, anyway.

............................

It was nearly midnight when I finally took Olivia back home. We'd been the last ones to leave aside from Edward and Bella. It was almost as if Olivia was determined to prove that she could be near Edward and not want to kill him. When I asked her about it, though, she gave me another perspective.

"I just really like Nessie," she said as we sat curled up together on her huge, comfortable, blue sofa. "She's easy to get along with. And plus, she completely understood all of my weird, Faerie problems without me even having to explain. It sorta feels good to have someone like that around."

"You miss your family," I guessed.

"Immensely," she replied sadly.

"You could visit them," I said. "I'll go with you."

She smiled wistfully. "I would love to," she said. "But, I can't. Not now, anyway."

"Why not?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Never mind, Embry," she said. "I just can't at the moment. Perhaps, someday, if everything works out the way it should, I'll be able to."

She seemed so sad about the whole situation, almost as if she was on the verge of tears. I pulled her closer to me and held her tight to my chest. "I'm sure everything will work out," I told her softly, kissing the top of her head. "I'll make sure it does."

And then, she WAS crying, so softly I almost didn't hear her. I stroked her hair, feeling the pain in my chest shift and deepen. After a few moments, Maggie dropped the toy rabbit she'd been throwing around and jumped up to sit next to Olivia, her head resting on Olivia's knee. She looked up at me as if to ask what was wrong.

"It's okay, Maggie," I told her. "Olivia will be all right."

Olivia reached out and scratched Maggie behind her ears. "I miss my mother," she said to the dog. "You must miss yours, too, don't you?"

Maggie sighed.

Olivia gave a short, sorrow-filled laugh. "I know," she said. "It sucks."

I smiled and kissed the top of Olivia's head again. "You guys can share my mother, if you like," I told them. "She'd love to have a couple of daughters, even if one of them's not human."

"Neither of them are human, Embry," Olivia said softly.

"Well," I said. "But, mom wouldn't know about you."

She laughed softly into my chest. "You're good for me," she said. "Like those cherry lozenges you used to get when you were a kid. The ones that tasted like candy, but were really cough drops? That's what you're like. I think you're candy, but you're healing me bit by bit without my knowledge."

"Great, I'm a lozenge," I said, amused.

"You're MY lozenge," Olivia corrected, wrapping her arms around my waist and snuggling into me. "I don't know that it would be the same for anyone else."

"I think I like being your lozenge," I said. "Even if it means that I'll ultimately be devoured."

"Everlasting Gobstopper lozenge," she said.

"Oh," I said, grinning. "I see. I'm a Wonka Lozenge."

"Yes."

I just held her for a moment, stroking her hair with one hand.

"My poor Embry," she purred.

I couldn't tell if she was teasing me or not, but before I could ask her, she was breathing deep, even and slow breaths and I knew she was asleep.


	8. Balance

I made sure to keep Olivia away from Edward for the next three weeks because I suspected- rightly, as it turned out- that he'd be at Leah's wedding. I decided that the less she had to see him, the better. Explaining to her the pain it caused me didn't sound like fun times to me and it would only put greater stress on her.

Looking back, my mistake was letting her help Leah set up the day before the wedding.

"I told Leah I'd help her set up for the wedding this afternoon," she told me after school- she'd subbed for English today. "Want to just head straight there?"

"Edward's going to be there," I told her. "You sure you want to do that?"

She groaned. "But, I've already promised Leah," she said. "I'll just stay out of his way and hope he returns the favor."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" I asked.

"I did okay a few weeks ago, when the Johansens wanted to meet us all, didn't I?"

I let her have that one.

Leah's brand of mothering, however, seemed to extend to Olivia and Edward, too. When we arrived, she explained that what she really needed was for us to help Edward, Bella, Jake and Nessie setting up the tents in the back yard. Olivia stiffened, but smiled at Leah and said she'd be glad to help.

We arrived in Leah's back yard to find Edward and Jake arguing over the best way to secure the tent posts. Jake thought the ground was too soft and if they wanted the posts to stay, they'd have to be deep, but Edward insisted that if they used the cement blocks, they would stay all right.

"Sounds like a riveting argument," said Olivia dryly to Nessie and Bella, who were standing by, looking amused.

"They just enjoy arguing," said Bella. "It's their thing. They always take opposite sides, no matter what they really think. We usually just stand back and let them duke it out."

"Jake, why do you think the rental company left these blocks here?" Edward was saying. "They know what they're doing. If they say the blocks will hold, then they'll hold."

"I still think we need to put the posts in deep," said Jake. "They're twelve feet long, Edward! There's no need for the roof to be any higher than 8 feet. We put them in four feet."

"Do YOU want to dig the holes for that?"

The argument went on long enough that I was beginning to get amused by them. Finally, though, Olivia cut them both off. "Hey, guys," she said loudly. "If you want to get the tents up before it starts raining, we should get to work."

"All right," said Jake, waving her off as if she was ruining their fun. "So we'll put them in as deep as they'll go or two and a half feet- whichever comes first- and use the blocks."

"I'm glad we finally agree."

"Want I should call up some magma from the Earth's core to cement them in?" offered Olivia in a tone that was so deadly serious, everyone stopped moving at once and stared at her.

"What?" snapped Edward. 'What' to rhyme with 'you mad old hag!'

"Relax," said Olivia, trying to hold back a grin. "I was kidding. There's no fault line around here big enough for that. I could always make one I suppose…."

This time, Edward shook his head, turning towards the nearest tent post, though I was almost sure I'd seen half a grin on his face.

The tenting started out fine. We got three of the four tents up in a couple hours, but the fourth was giving us trouble. All four were meant to secure together to make one huge tent, but the forth one just wouldn't cooperate. Its zipper kept getting caught and Olivia was busily cursing at it under her breath. At least I think they were curses- she was speaking a language I didn't recognize. Jake and I were busy getting the center poles in place to hold the canvas of the tents in peeks while Nessie and Bella were setting up tables and chairs. We'd left Edward and Olivia to fuss with the zippers since they're the most patient out of all of us.

"Get out of the way," ordered Edward.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can!" snapped Olivia, tugging at the zipper.

"Yeah, well, let me try," he said.

"Just leave me alone for a minute, okay?"

"I've left you alone for several minutes," said Edward, clearly annoyed. "Let someone else take a turn. Or are you too proud for that?" he added, taunting.

"Yes, I am," said Olivia, clearly not even bothered.

"F- Faeries," spat Edward. From the look on Bella's face, I could see he'd been about to use the word Jake had forbidden.

"Dad…" said Nessie.

"Just get out of the way," said Edward, reaching up to take the zipper from Olivia's hands.

She jumped out of the way as if she'd been scalded, looking angry.

Edward laughed and reached up to tug the zipper free of the fabric that was stopping it. He had it free in about twenty seconds and carefully zipped it along the line.

Olivia glared at him for a moment, then went to one of the side zippers.

"How about if you let ME do that," suggested Edward.

"Oh, shut up hem-" Olivia cut herself off, looking strangled. "Edward," she finished through clenched teeth.

"Well, you obviously can't seem to work a simple zipper," said Edward, a smug grin on his face.

"Edward, don't antagonize her," said Jake in a board voice.

Edward ignored him, however. "Stand aside, Faerie," he said.

"I have a name!" snapped Olivia.

"I know, Faerie," said Edward, reaching out and zipping the side flaps together.

Olivia looked as if she wanted to rip Edward's face off, and Edward, though grinning, looked as if he'd be more than happy to return the favor.

I was about to suggest to Bella that we keep them apart when Olivia growled and took a menacing step towards Edward. "Stay out of my head, Hemophile!" she spat at him.

"Hey, I said no racial slurs on my land!" exclaimed Jake.

"You're keeping it from raining, Fauxer!" accused Edward, looking very angry.

"What, would you rather get wet?" demanded Olivia. "Oh, I forgot, Hemophiles don't care about water- just blood!"

"Tampering with the weather is dangerous!" Edward retorted, his face a mask of fury. "You'd better let it go, Fauxer!"

"Guys!" shouted Jake.

"Or what?" demanded Olivia.

"Or maybe I'll just make you!"

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm pretty sure the Volturi would LOVE to know where one of their greatest enemies is hiding."

A look of panic joined the hatred and anger on Olivia's face and she raised one hand into the air. It immediately filled with ice which she whipped towards Edward.

Jake crashed into her just as she let the ice ball fly. "Enough!" he shouted as he wrestled her to the ground, trying to restrain her.

Edward had dived for her at the same moment Jake had and Bella and Nessie were across the tent in a flash, restraining him. "Edward, stop," Bella commanded.

But, my eyes were all for Jake. Olivia was struggling against him mightily, but Jake had managed to restrain her hands. I felt anger building as I watched him try to hold her down. She screamed out in anger and frustration and before I knew what was happening, I'd crashed into Jake, knocking him off Olivia and punching him in the ribs. How I'd managed to keep from changing, I had no idea. I felt myself shaking with the effort even as I punched my friend and brother repeatedly, not even fully aware that he wasn't fighting back.

Suddenly, I was aware of some immensely strong arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I was lifted off Jake and flung to one side. I looked up, expecting it to be Nessie or even Edward, but it was Olivia, looking horrified and scared. "Embry what are you DOING?" she shrieked, her voice terrified.

I lay there for a moment. "Sorry," I said. "Sorry, Jake. I… reacted."

"It's okay, bro," said Jake, coming to stand by Olivia. He offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet. "I shoulda been more careful about that."

I was aware that it was raining, then, but we were all dry inside the tent.

"Lost my hold," mumbled Olivia, gazing at the falling rain visible outside the one tent flap that hadn't been secured.

"It's raining REALLY hard," said Nessie peering out of the open flap.

"Yeah," said Olivia. "It'll do that now. I didn't change the weather, just paused it. It has a lot of rain to make up for."

"All right," said Jake, raising a hand. "You two owe me an apology."

"What?" said Olivia, incredulous.

"I made you promise not to use certain words on my land," he said. "And you broke that promise just now. I don't much care if you apologize to one another, but you have to apologize to me."

Edward started at him as if he'd grown an extra head.

"You're right, Jake," said Olivia quietly. "I did promise you that. And I'm sorry. I'll do better next time."

Not to be outdone by a Faerie, Edward offered his own apologies then.

"Good," said Jake. "Now, you two need to chill, okay? You're both invited to the wedding tomorrow, but if either of you so much as looks at the other cross-eyed, I'll escort you to the border myself. And you'll never be allowed back on the rez. Is that understood?"

Olivia nodded somberly. Edward scowled, but nodded.

"Okay," said Jake. "Now shake hands."

This time, both looked at Jake incredulously.

"Are you insane?" demanded Olivia.

"I'm NOT shaking hands with THAT," said Edward distastefully.

"You will," said Jake evenly. "As a show of good faith that you will behave yourselves tomorrow. Or you can be uninvited, if you prefer. And that un-invitation includes the afore mentioned ban from the rez. Take your pick. I'm not fussy."

Olivia's jaw clenched, but she tentatively held out a hand toward Edward. Edward glared at it a moment, grasped it in his for half a second, then both immediately withdrew their hands and wiped them on their pants. The sight was so comical, I had to laugh.

"What's so funny?" demanded Olivia, looking angry.

"You two are more alike than you know," I said, still laughing.

Nessie was laughing, too. "That was great," she snickered.

Jake and Bella were grinning. But, Edward and Olivia were glaring at us.

"Maybe we shouldn't antagonize them," said Jake pointedly.

"Should we go see if Leah has anything else for us to do?" I asked, sliding an arm around Olivia's waist- partly to let her know everything was okay and partly in case she tried to attack Edward again.

Olivia agreed. Nessie came with us with a significant look towards Bella, Jake and Edward, who stayed outside to finish up with the tables and chairs.

"Let's not tell Leah about that," suggested Nessie when we'd reached the shelter of the front porch. "It'll only upset her and she has enough to worry about."

"Agreed," I said, shaking out my hair. "She doesn't need any more on her plate right now."

"I told mom and dad to keep it quiet before we left," Nessie said. "They'll tell Jake."

Olivia frowned.

"You don't like that they can read minds, do you?" I asked her.

"I don't mind Bella doing it," she said. "She's polite about it. She asked me permission. Not HIM, though. He just barges in."

"Mom asked permission?" asked Nessie, looking amused.

"Yeah," said Olivia, removing her soaked jacket and throwing it over one of the porch chairs. "Faeries have a natural block- it's weak, but it keeps Vampires out of our heads unless we let them in. We can strengthen it if we know a mental attack is coming, but if we don't, they can push it in pretty easily. Bella asked, first. Mentally, of course. As did the Johansens."

"And did you let them?" I asked, removing my shoes and setting them by the door.

"Yes," said Olivia. "Because they were polite. And because they're Elders."

"If Edward had asked permission, would you have let him?" I asked.

"No," she said flatly, kicking her wet shoes off to rest beside mine.

"You're really strong," I commented. "I can't believe you actually managed to lift me."

"Faeries are all really strong," said Olivia. "We've had a lot of time to build muscle."

Nessie looked at Olivia, head cocked to one side. "These weremen are pretty strong," she said. "Though I think you rival them."

"Probably," admitted Olivia with a wink.

Finally, all our really wet clothing had been removed leaving us in jeans, shirts and socks and we entered the house. Emily was putting the finishing touches on a wedding cake and Leah was busy watching her. The two chatted happily as Emily worked. Two of the bridesmaids were busily organizing the dresses and make-up for tomorrow and Leah's mother was fussing about Leah's short hair while her step-father leaned against the door jam in his uniform, a cup of coffee clutched in one hand.

"Sue, relax," he was saying. "I think she's absolutely beautiful. The short hair suits her."

"Oh, hey, Charlie," I said in greeting. "Have you met Olivia, yet?"

"This is the one who hates Edward, right?" he said, grinning as he held out a hand to her. "I think we'll be great friends, Olivia."

Nessie shook her head. "Be nice, Charlie," she said.

Olivia grinned back at Charlie. "I'm working on just disliking him," said Olivia, shaking Charlie's hand. "He's sort of important to Embry, I guess."

I noticed Charlie tried not to look at Nessie too much. He knew who she was, but he didn't fully understand WHAT she was- nor what his daughter and son-in-law were.

"Charlie is Bella's dad," I told Olivia. Then, I lowered my voice and whispered in her ear. "And he'd rather not know too much about Edward and Bella and the weremen, so keep it on the down low. Pretend we're all human."

Olivia gave the tiniest of nods.

"Oh, it's WONDERFUL, Emily!" Nessie exclaimed as she looked the cake over. "You're hired for my wedding."

"You're already married!" protested Emily.

"Yes, but I haven't had a wedding, yet," said Nessie. "And I've just GOT to. Jake's dad and sisters will never forgive us if we don't have one. Plus, I want a whole crowd of people to fuss over me. Aunt Alice is going to want to do the planning, but I'll tell her that you're doing the cake."

Emily grinned as she placed another frosting rose on the cake. "If you insist," she said.

"Where's Freddy?" I asked Charlie and Sue. Their 6-year-old son was a favorite with the kids on the rez. Freddy was always so cheerful and happy, they couldn't get enough of him.

"He went off with Claire and Quil and that blonde girl that was with them," said Charlie. "Is that his girlfriend?"

"No," I said. "She's more Claire's friend than Quil's really. Her name's Claire. I think that's why Quil's Claire likes her so much."

"Oh," said Charlie. "She seemed sad."

"Her mother was killed when she was 10 years old," said Leah. "I don't think she's ever really gotten over it."

"The poor girl," said Sue, one hand over her heart.

"Is there anything else you needed, Leah?" asked Olivia.

"Don't suppose you could stop the rain tomorrow, could you?" asked Leah.

I froze, but Olivia laughed along with Charlie and Sue. "Oh, sure," she said sarcastically. "Let me get right on that. I'll just have a few words with God or maybe just fly up there and push the clouds out of the way. Shouldn't be too hard."

Leah grinned. "Seriously, though," she said. "I think we've actually got everything done. Thank you so much for your help!"

"No problem," said Olivia with a warm smile. "We made short work of those tents."

"I knew you and Edward could work together if you put your minds to it," Leah beamed.

Quil, Freddy and the two Claires burst in at that point, saving Olivia from having to come up with anything to say. They were all soaked to the skin and laughing.

"Oh, my goodness!" exclaimed Sue, laughing with them. "Stay there, I'll get towels." And she rushed off to do just that as Leah went to find some spare clothes for them all.

"What happened?" asked Olivia, looking slightly guilty.

"We were down at the beach when it suddenly started pouring!" exclaimed Claire the girl. "Quil carried me back running and Claire got Freddy, but we got soaked anyway."

"I see that," said Olivia, grinning.

Sue returned with towels then and the two Claires were escorted to Leah's room to change while Quil took Freddy to Seth's room.

Olivia leaned in to whisper, "that was SO my fault," to me.

I just grinned at her. "Tell Leah we'll see her tomorrow, okay?" I told Emily.

"And to call us if she needs anything," added Olivia.

"Okay, thanks, guys!" said Emily, waving to us as we headed for the door.

Once we were safely in the car, Olivia said, "what happened to Emily's face? I've always wondered, but have been too afraid to ask."

"Don't tell anyone I'm telling you this," I said, starting the car. "It horrifies Sam, but nobody really blames him. Not entirely, anyway."

"Wait," said Olivia as we pulled out onto the road. "Sam did that? Her husband?"

"Well, they weren't married at the time," I told her. "They weren't even dating. In fact, Sam was dating Leah. I don't know the whole story because Sam keeps it from everyone, but after he imprinted on Emily, he tried to resist because of Leah. He let his temper get away from him once and Emily was too close." I paused. "He feels terrible about it, obviously. I don't think he's ever forgiven himself."

Olivia was quiet for a long time. "It sounds like Imprinting can be dangerous," she finally said, sounding a bit wary.

"I will NEVER let myself loose my temper around you," I promised quickly.

"Not for me," she said. "I heal too quickly to be left with horrible scars. No, I meant for the human girls. No wonder even the Elders are wary of weremen."

"Are they?"

"Yeah," she said. "The Elders protect humanity. You're a potential danger to their charges, so they'd be cautious. They wouldn't hate you or anything, just keep their eyes wide open around you."

"So, Nicolas, Luciana and Claire…?"

"They're cautious."

"Just like we are about them."

"Well, the weremen protect animals," she said. "And since the Elders feed off animals, it makes sense for you to keep your eyes on them."

"Protect… what?" I asked. I was confused. I'd always thought we were protecting our tribe.

"Well, that's the way it started," she sighed. "The Elders protected humanity, weremen protected the animals and Faeries protected the Earth. Working together, we found balance and harmony for a long time. And somewhere along the line, some Elder misjudged someone and created a Vampire instead of an Elder and from there, it all sort of went downhill. The Elders still do their job, but the Vampires are making it harder because Faeries and weremen think we've got to make stands against them. We can't just let them go free, I'm not saying that, but it's taking our attention away from where it belongs and the animals and earth are suffering because of it."

"Are they?"

Olivia nodded. "There are far too many endangered species," she said. "And some animals- wild pigs for one- are over running the planet. That's meant to be the job of the weremen. And for the planet, well, there are several species of plants that choke out life and have gotten completely out of hand. We've been neglecting our duties."

"I didn't even know I HAD duties," I confessed.

"That's not your fault," she assured me. "Maybe one day, we'll get the balance back."

My phone rang before I could reply. It was Seth and he was in a state.

"Embry, I really need to talk to you," he said, sounding panicky.

"Calm down, Seth," I said. "What's up?"

"Just… how soon can you get here?" he asked.

"Where's here?"

"Home. My home."

"Give me about twenty minutes," I said. "What's wrong with you?"

"Just get here as soon as you can, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I said.

Seth disconnected.

"Geez," I said, snapping my phone shut. "He sounds like he's in a state. It looks like I won't be cooking dinner for you after all."

"That's okay," she reassured me. "I'm sure I'll manage.

Twenty minutes later I was pulling back up to the house that Leah shared with Seth. When their mother had married Charlie, she had signed the house over to them. It was paid for and she didn't need it anymore, but Seth had wanted to finish school on the rez, so since it was his last year, Sue had let him stay there with Leah.

Seth was pacing back and forth on the porch. "Embry!" he called as soon as I stepped out of the car. "What took you so long?"  
"I had to drop Olivia off," I said, joining him on the porch. "What's wrong?"

Seth sat down on one of the porch chairs and put his head in his hands. "Dude, I just imprinted," he said. "At the bridal and tux place in Port Angeles. I was picking up the tuxedos for all the guys and this girl walked in. Oh, god!"

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"I'm getting to it," said Seth. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath before continuing. "So, there was only one sales lady there. She was in the back getting all the tuxes for me when this girl comes in. The minute I saw her- well, you know. So I was talking to her. She's from Michigan. A Chippewa, if you'll believe it. Anyway, she was there picking up her-" a sob broke through, "-her wedding dress!"

"Oh, geez," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder

"What am I going to do?" he sobbed.

I honestly had no idea what to tell him. If he'd imprinted on a girl who was about to get married, he could ruin some lives and destroy a new marriage. On the other hand, if he somehow managed to avoid her, he would be sent into a spiraling depression that may only end with his suicide.

"She seemed really into me, too, for awhile," he went on. "She was talking to me and everything. I even thought I saw her checking me out, but maybe I imagined it."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"When I saw the dress, I just bolted," he said.

"Well, maybe it wasn't hers," I suggested. "Maybe she was picking it up for a friend. Or her sister. Maybe she's NOT getting married."

"You think so?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"Maybe," I said. "What happened when she walked in? I mean exactly."

"Well," he started. "I heard the bell and turned around to see her just coming in. As soon as our eyes met, she sort of stopped halfway in and we just stared for a moment. I knew right away what happened. I could feel it. Like nothing else in the world mattered for me anymore."

"And SHE stopped, too?" I asked.

"Yeah, she wasn't even all the way in the door," he said. "She just stood there with the door trying to close behind her. And then, she finally shook herself and stepped inside so the door could close. And then she said, 'Hi, I'm Christie,' and I said, 'I'm Seth.' And then we just started talking. I told her I was picking up tuxes for my sister's wedding and she said she was picking up a dress and I sorta noticed she looked disappointed when she mentioned the dress. I thought maybe she didn't like the color or it was a really bad bridesmaid's dress." He swallowed hard. "Anyway, she said she was on her lunch break and I asked where she worked and she said the music shop just up the street, you know, the one that sells pianos and trumpets and stuff."

"Yeah, I know it," I said. "What happened then?"  
"Well, the sales lady brought out the tuxes and Christie asked for her dress," I said.

"Did she still look disappointed?" I asked.

"No, now she looked anguished," he said. "So I asked her what was wrong and she said that it was probably just something she ate, so I left it at that. So I said it was nice meeting her and she said, 'yeah, you, too.' The sales lady came out with her dress then and when I saw all that white and lace, I panicked. I ran out to the car and didn't look back. Then, I came home and called you right away."

"Did you tell Leah?" I asked.

"I'm not an idiot, Embry," Seth said. "She doesn't need to be worrying about me right now."

"Just out of curiosity," I said. "Why did you call me?"

"Because you're good at keeping things to yourself," he replied. "At least that's what Leah said."

I grinned at him. "Yeah, I guess I am," I said.

"Thanks for listening, man," he said, still looking pained.

"Hey, no problem," I told him. "Try not to think about her for a few days, okay? And then maybe head down to the music shop and pretend you're thinking of taking up the guitar or something."

"The guitar," he repeated. "Yeah. Actually, I wouldn't mind. Dad's old guitar is still in the closet. I wonder if it's any good."

"Run with it, Seth," I advised.

He immediately went into the house to check on the guitar and I headed back to my car. Poor guy. I don't know what I'd do in his situation. He had to try, however horrible it made him look. Jake's dad had told us what happens to weremen who, for one reason or another, can't have the object of their imprinting. It had only happened twice as far as anyone knew. In one case, the girl already belonged to another, so the man in question had tried to stay away from her. He ended up throwing himself into the grand canyon. In the other case, the girl was killed in a tragic accident. The man lived the rest of his life in grief, dying only 3 years later.

Neither case sounded good. If Seth had to stop a wedding, we'd all help him do it. Nobody would want to watch him die.

I made it to Olivia's just as she was taking dinner off the stove. "I made extra," she told me as I walked through the door. "Just in case you came back."

"In case?" I said. "When have I ever NOT come back?"

"Good point," she said, setting the two plates on the table. "I hope you don't hate salmon."

"Salmon's good," I lied quickly. "It's not my favorite, but it's okay." In truth, I hated the stuff, but I wasn't about to tell her that. I'd eat anything she put in front of me.

"Is Seth okay?" she asked as we sat down at her table.

"Yeah," I answered. "Just some personal problems."

She didn't ask any more about it, sensing that it was something Seth didn't want everyone and his brother knowing.

Luckily, her salmon wasn't too bad. All I'd ever had before was smoked salmon and I got sick of that when I was about five years old. This stuff had been cooked with garlic and butter and it tasted less like fish than I remembered.

Olivia made me watch an old Abbott and Costello movie titled, "Who Done It?" I'd never seen any of their stuff and was surprised at how funny it was. She had a whole collection of Abbott and Costello, and she assured me we were set for several months' worth of Friday nights. I secretly looked forward to next week's feature, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."

....................................

Leah's wedding was absolutely wonderful. Seth gave her away on behalf of their dad and Sue burst into tears as soon as little Freddy handed over the pillow on which he'd carried the rings. He made everyone smile when he quickly went to her, placed a little hand on her knee and said, "it's okay, mama."

At the reception, Edward and Olivia avoided one another and on the one occasion they found themselves standing next to each other, they were stiffly cordial and got as far away from each other as quickly as they could.

Jake shrugged at me at that point as if to say, "it's a start."

It was at that.

I danced with Olivia for awhile until Quil cut in. After that, I avoided dancing. Olivia was GOOD- even better than Quil who'd taken a ballroom dancing class with Claire. Quil was able to give her better entertainment than I could and when she returned to me and tried to drag me back out, I told her I was tired. I think she saw through that, but then she had no shortage of dance partners. Even little Freddy offered her a dance. She smiled warmly at him and said, "why, I'd love to!" before following him onto the dance floor.

Seth stood in for his and Leah's father all night long and I could see that the girl from the day before was still distracting him, though he told Leah he was concentrating on not tripping on anything.

The rain held off until nearly midnight. Edward was glaring at Olivia so thoroughly, I wondered if she'd had anything to do with it, but she said she didn't. Although, when Charlie asked her, she claimed full responsibility and the two joked about different methods of keeping the rain away for a solid half hour.

Finally, as one o'clock in the morning rolled around, everyone started leaving and I took Olivia home. She begged me to just stay and I did even though it still killed me to do so. This time, she was singing a soft lullaby as I drifted off.


	9. Peace Overture

I woke up one morning a full week later and Olivia was nowhere to be found. Maggie was whining by the door, so I hooked her leash to her collar and we headed outside.

It was an unusually sunny day. The clouds had disappeared and birds were singing in the trees. Maggie took me directly to Olivia, who was sitting under a tree, singing one of those old hymns softly to herself in a high soprano. "Good morning," I said as Maggie and I approached.

"Hi!" she said, smiling up at me. Maggie licked her face as soon as we were in range.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Worshiping," she said, standing and bushing off her jeans.

"Don't most people do that in church?"

"I'm not even a person, technically," she pointed out. "Besides, the Fey have never felt comfortable worshiping with others. We like to do it alone. Anyway, breakfast! Come on!"

She dragged me into the house. I sat down at the kitchen table, but Maggie kept getting under Olivia's feet. Finally, I called Maggie upstairs and locked us in her room where I proceeded to throw a ball around for her. She never seemed to want to let go of it when she brought it back to me, though.

It had been a week since Leah's wedding and the situation between Edward and Olivia had not improved in the least. Any time they were together we were all guaranteed to hear them throwing insults back and forth. They hated each other as thoroughly as angels hated demons. I had just given up on them ever being content and just dealt with the pain. I was almost used to it.

But, now, Leah was involving herself. Maggie and I heard the doorbell ring from upstairs and I opened the door to go see who'd come over. I had just pulled the door open about a foot when I heard Leah's voice.

"Do you have ANY idea what you're doing to Embry?"

I froze. She sounded angry. There was a stunned silence, and then the front door clicked shut. I decided to stay hidden with Maggie for the time being.

"Did you HEAR me?" Leah demanded, sounding angry.

"I heard you," said Olivia, sounding confused. "I just-"

"You're KILLING him!" exclaimed Leah. "He just wants you to be happy, but there's nothing he can do about the Edward situation! Do you know what it DOES to us when the objects of our imprinting are unhappy?"

There was a pause.

"It causes us physical pain!" spat Leah. "You're HURTING him! Do you GET it? You're causing him actual physical pain!"

"Hey, Vampires and Faeries don't get along," defended Olivia. "He knows that. And anyway, as long as I don't have to think about Edward, Embry can just ignore-"

"No he can not!" hissed Leah. "He can't ignore it, Olivia. He knows and that's all it takes. Even if you never let on how unhappy you are that he's friends with a Vampire, he KNOWS it and it hurts him!"

There was another pause. "Even if I never say anything…?" Olivia asked almost too quietly for me to hear.

"Yes, even if you never say anything," said Leah. "It'll eat at him. But, there's nothing he can do about it. Absolutely nothing. Edward is at least an ally of everyone in both packs. And he's my brother's best friend. Do you know what position you've put Embry in? He can't chose Edward because he's imprinted on you and he can't choose you because he's got a treaty with Edward! His hands are tied and you being miserable does NOT help him at all! And I'll be damned if I just sit around and watch you hurt one of my boys. I don't care WHO you are! And cooking him breakfast every morning doesn't even BEGIN to make up for it!"

I considered going downstairs and telling Leah to leave off. She'd turned into quite the mother hen lately. She called us all "my boys," Sam's pack included. She'd defend any one of us, no matter who came against us. She defended us against each other, against the police, even against our own parents. Word quickly got around the rez about four years ago that you didn't pick on Sam's group OR Leah's unless you wanted Leah Clearwater on your back for the next several months.

My mother was even afraid of her.

"Leah, I had no idea," insisted Olivia, sounding pained.

The pain in my chest, to which I'd become so accustomed, deepened.

"Yeah, well, now you do," said Leah, a bit softer. "Look, I'm not saying you have to get all chummy with Edward, okay? Truth is, I don't care for him much, either. But, the fact remains that we have a treaty with them and we're NOT going to break it, no matter what. All you really have to do is to not hate him so much."

"That's easier said than done," said Olivia. I heard the springs in the sofa creak as she flopped onto it.

"Look," said Leah, and she sat down, too. "He's really not all that bad. I mean, he doesn't hunt humans and he's always cordial when we have to go to his land."

"I thought you just said you didn't really like him all that much," Olivia reminded her.

"I don't," said Leah. "But, it's not him or me. We just don't get along. Personality clash, you know. The point is, I don't hate him. I don't like him, but I don't hate him. Sorta like the Dentist."

"Edward the Dentist," said Olivia.

"Yeah, think of him like the dentist."

"That's going to be a problem."

"Why?"

"I've never been to the dentist."

"Oh."

Olivia laughed then. The pain in my chest eased quite a bit at that. "All right, Leah, I'll try to not hate Edward," she said. "For Embry's sake."

"That's all I ask," said Leah.

"Now I feel guilty," said Olivia. "I had no idea… Maybe I'd better have Embry explain the whole imprinting thing again."

"He'd leave that out," said Leah. "He'd know you'd feel guilty if you knew how much it hurts him and that would mean more pain for you which means more pain for him and then you would know it was more painful which would make you feel even MORE guilty…. It's a vicious cycle."  
"I guess so," she said. "Okay, so I'll just have to try to not hate him. I think I can manage that."

"Good," said Leah. "Well, I'd better get going. Bradon thinks I just ran to the store for Ice Cream."

"Leah?"

"Yeah?"  
"Thanks. I don't want to hurt Embry."

"No problem." The door opened. "Oh, by the way, I'm pregnant. We're going to wait for a couple of months to announce it and then say he's premature when he finally comes. I sure hope people buy it."

There was a grin in Olivia's voice when she spoke. "And even if not, who cares what everyone thinks!" she said. "It's your business. And marriage is more of a concept anyway. In some cultures, you're married the moment you spend the night together and in others, you're not officially married until the birth of your first child. I once met a tribe in Brazil who considered a couple married as soon as they laid eyes on each other. They raised boys and girls separately and only put them together when they were considered adults- age fourteen to be exact."

"So I shouldn't care what people think?" asked Leah.

"I would," admitted Olivia. "But, you're completely different, Leah. You're braver than I am."

Leah laughed. "So you would care, but I shouldn't?" she said. "That makes sense."

Olivia laughed, too. "It takes all kinds."

I heard Leah laughing as she left the apartment.

And then I heard Olivia sobbing.

I was downstairs with her in my arms in five seconds. "Hey, don't," I said.

"I just… why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"For the reasons Leah just outlined," I said. "It'll just make it harder on both of us."

"But, I could've DONE something, Embry!" wailed Olivia. "I could've done something WEEKS ago! You should have told me. Oh!" she gasped. "When we were setting up for the wedding and I threw a ball of ice at his head?"

I looked down at her to see the question in her face. She wanted to know how much it had hurt me. I could only nod.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest. "I'm so SORRY, Embry!" she exclaimed. "I wish you had told me!"

I just held her, stroking her hair and reassuring her that I was okay and that she didn't have to feel guilty because she hadn't known. She kept insisting that I should have told her, but I kept insisting that the whole situation would have only made things worse for everyone.

"You know what I think?" she finally asked.

"What's that?" I replied.

"I think we should start calling the two Claires by their middle names," she said. "It'll be a lot less confusing that way."

"You're changing the subject," I accused.

"Yep," she said. "I've had enough of feeling guilty and trying to argue with you about whether or not you should have told me. I thought it was time for a new subject."

"And you picked Claire May and Claire June for that subject?"

"Why not?"

I chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Well, I can think of a lot of things to talk about, each of them more exciting than how to get two girls with the same name to know which of them you're talking to when they're both in the room," I said.

She pulled away to look up at me. "Like what?" she asked.

"Like how many kids tested for Violin yesterday."

Olivia's eyes lit up suddenly. She'd had representatives from a local music store come in to the school to show the kids the instruments and have them try them out. She'd been overwhelmed by how many had signed up and I was interested to know if she'd get to start her orchestra after all.

"Fifteen," she said, grinning broadly. "And six Violas, two Cellos and two Bases. Plus a lot of winds and percussion."

She was lost, then, telling me all about the kids she'd met today and how excited she was that a lot of them already play the piano so they'd have a head start. I didn't understand a lot of what she said, but it didn't matter. She was happy now and the pain in my chest had faded so that it was almost not there.

.................................

I had to run patrol with Seth that afternoon. Ever since Bella and the Elders had had visions of the Volturi, Sam and Jake had agreed that we should keep a lookout for anything unusual and had ordered regular patrols. We all complained until Leah told us to shut our traps and that anyone who didn't like it could talk to her fists. We liked it after that.

Seth was in very high spirits when he popped in to relieve Quil and Quil stayed just long enough to figure out that Seth had imprinted and then he left us with the distinct impression that he did not envy me. The newly imprinted tended to be unbearable.

_So what happened? _I asked.

_I went to the music store today,_ he replied. _I asked her how the dress was and she said, and I quote, 'it didn't work out.' So I asked her if she was going to get a different one and she said, 'no, I mean the wedding didn't work out.' Anyway, I had the guitar restrung and bought a book to teach me how to play- it cost me $35 all together, but I don't mind. And maybe I'll actually learn to play it, too. So, then I asked if she'd had lunch yet and she said no and I asked her if she'd like to have lunch with me and she said sure._ He sighed happily. _She's coming to our beach party tomorrow. I hope it DOESN'T rain._

_It's not supposed to,_ I said. _Until late at night. I forgot about the beach party._

_Yeah, you're too wrapped up in Olivia,_ he teased.

_Well, yeah,_ I admitted. _She'll probably come, though._

_Olivia would do anything for you,_ Seth told me.

_Except get along with Edward, _I said. _Anyway, never mind that. What happened at lunch?_

Seth proceeded to give me a long-winded explanation of lunch with Christie and I listened to him exulting in the fact that she hadn't really been sure about the wedding anyway and that she thought she'd probably been marrying Jack for all the wrong reasons. She was glad, however, that she had decided to stay in the area after finishing college- she'd attended Washington State- because she'd found a good job as a school services representative for the music store in Port Angeles. In fact, she'd been the one who'd come out to Forks High to test the kids on instruments for Olivia. She even taught a few private lessons when she wasn't needed at the store.

_She actually wanted a teaching job,_ he told me. _But she likes this job and it pays just as well as teaching does. And she likes the area, so if nothing opens up around here, she's happy to stay there._

_Sounds like you two are getting along really well,_ I told him when he finally shut up.

_Yeah, _he said. _It's strange, you know. I mean, I completely want to know everything about her, but isn't it usually hard to get the girls to open up once we've imprinted on them? I mean, nobody else had this easy of a time. Except Jared, but Kim was in love with him for ages before he imprinted on her._

I gave him a mental shrug. _Maybe Christie's just a really open person,_ I said.

_Maybe, _he replied. _I've got this almost uncontrollable urge to marry her, though._

_That never goes away,_ I warned him.

Leah and Jacob relieved us several hours later and realized at once that Seth had imprinted. _She's coming to the beach tomorrow, you guys can meet her there, _he promised.

_What's that about a wedding dress?_ Asked Leah, confused.

_Never mind,_ said Seth, forcing his mind onto the beach party. _I'll tell you about it later. See you, guys!_

_And girl,_ added Leah.

_Shut up, Leah,_ said Jake.

_You shut up,_ said Leah.

Seth winked out with a chuckle and I ran straight to Olivia's place. It was nearly six o'clock in the evening, so I didn't even knock before I went in- she always knew it was me, anyway so I'm not entirely sure why I kept that up.

"Hi," she said as I joined her at the kitchen table where she was reading a new issue of Smithsonian. "Have a good patrol?"

"Yeah," I said with a grin. "Seth was telling me all about this girl he Imprinted on. He's absolutely thrilled. There's a beach party tomorrow, by the way, that I forgot about."

She nodded. "I want to go out to the Cullens' place," she said.

I blinked. "What?" I asked.

"Well, I guess 'want' is the wrong word," she said. "More like 'need.' I've been thinking about it all afternoon and if I'm ever going to not hate Edward Cullen, I'm going to have to get to know him. And, to get to know him, I'm going to have to go there."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Which is why we should go now."

"I don't follow."

"If we go now," she said, "I'll have a reason to leave after only an hour or so. It's evening, it's late and Faeries have to eat. And we like to sleep. So, if it's going really badly, you can drag me off with some excuse like 'we should get some dinner.' We go now," she finished definitively.

I sighed. "Olivia, I don't think-"

"You don't have to think, Embry," she said. "Listen, the fact that I'm unhappy about him is hurting you, right?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

"So, I've got to be at least complacent about him," she said. "And in order for me to be complacent, I've got to see that he's harmless- or at least mostly harmless. So, we should go over there. You'll be there to keep me from killing him and Bella will be there to keep him from killing me."

I thought about it for a minute. She had a point. If I wanted her to get used to Edward, she WOULD have to be around him. And, at a time when she could walk out if it wasn't working was probably best. And, she COULD just leave tonight after an hour if it came to it. And if Bella and I stayed right next to them, we shouldn't have any problems.

"Okay," I finally said. "But, you will remember that you are a GUEST in HIS house."

"Of course," she said.

"You're sure you want to do this?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Like I said, I don't WANT to do this. I HAVE to do this."

"For who?"

She thought about that for a moment. "For me," she said. "Ultimately. For my own sanity. Because knowing I'm hurting you is killing me."

I sighed. "All right," I said finally. "Let's go."

We made it to the Cullen's place in about half an hour. I was busy thinking at Edward from a mile away that we were on our way and he wasn't to worry because Olivia was on a peace mission. I forgot momentarily that Bella could hear thoughts, too, but Olivia didn't. When we pulled up, Edward and Bella- along with Seth, to my surprise- were all standing on the front porch.

"I was thinking at Bella to tell Edward that I come in peace," explained Olivia.

"I was thinking the same thing directly to Edward."

Olivia grinned at me as she got out of the car and headed towards the porch. "Hi," she said, trying to grin and failing.

"Hello," said Edward, eying her suspiciously.

Olivia stood before him for a moment, looking as if it were the hardest thing she'd ever done. "Okay, so I'm killing Embry and the only way to make it right is to get along with you, so… here I am," she said in a rush.

Edward stared at her for a long time, neither saying anything, neither glaring and neither openly hostile. Finally, Olivia's head cocked to one side and she nodded once. Edward just stared for a bit longer, and then finally, he sighed. "All right, then," he said. "I've just made a beef stir fry. Are you hungry?"

Olivia looked as if she'd like to sneer, but turned it into a smile at the last minute. "Yes, actually, I am," she said. "We both are, really. Didn't have time for dinner."

"Then come in," he said, and opened the door for us.

Olivia glanced at Seth, who motioned her ahead of him. I grinned at him as I passed.

"Who plays?"

I glanced at Olivia to see her gazing through the house towards a grand piano. She WOULD find the piano in any house first thing. The second thing she'd find would be a guitar.

"I do," said Edward.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," replied Edward, sounding amused. I looked at him to see he was grinning slightly. "Don't sound so surprised. Vampires have lives, too."

"No they don't," said Seth. "They have deaths."

Edward laughed and punched Seth lightly in the arm. I'd forgotten how close the two of them were. "Come on," said Edward cordially. "I'll give you the tour after dinner."

"After OUR dinner, you mean," said Seth, indicating himself, Olivia and me. "Yours is in the forest."

Edward gave him an amused look. "Keep pushing, Seth," he said in a playfully warning tone.

In the kitchen, the smells of beef, vegetables and teriyaki filled the room. Bella had gotten there ahead of us and was carefully placing three plates on the table. "Enjoy," she said.

I motioned for Olivia to sit and quickly took the place next to her.

"Wonderful as always, Edward," said Seth after a huge mouthful. "Man, this guy can cook."

I agreed and took a bite, too, to encourage Olivia.

She chose the chopsticks and carefully picked up a piece of beef. She sniffed it gingerly, then, with a slightly wrinkled nose, put it in her mouth.

At first, I thought she wasn't fond of beef or teriyaki or something, but once she began to chew, her face showed shock and delight all in one. "Oh, my God," she gasped. "This is amazing!"

"You're joking," said Edward, eyebrows furrowed.

"The Fey do NOT joke about food," she said. "Seriously, this is really good. How in the universe can you possibly cook this well if you don't even like our food?"

For an answer, Edward turned to the television in the kitchen and flipped it on. It was on the Food Network.

"Ah, Rachel Ray," said Olivia with a grin.

"And Emiril," added Seth. "Can't forget the BAM!"

Olivia snickered. "I love that guy," she said, now eating without hesitation. "This is just really good," she added.

"Thank you," said Edward.

After dinner, Edward slid a plate towards Olivia. On it was a small Pyrex bowl with what looked like a honey comb and honey in it and some whole grain bread. He then poured her a glass of milk.

Olivia stared at it with her mouth half open for a moment. "You're kidding, right?" she said, licking her lips.

"It's fresh," Edward said. "Try it."

She glanced at him, hesitated, then broke off a piece of bread and dipped it into the honey. The bread and honey disappeared into her mouth. She sighed happily to herself. "Do you raise bees, too?" she asked sarcastically.

Edward chuckled. "Bella made me go to the bee keeper earlier today and to the farm down the road about an hour ago," he said. "I had no idea why. Try the milk."

She did and this time moaned, eyes fluttering shut. "Unpasteurized whole milk," she said. "And it's still WARM!"

I gave Olivia a confused look.

"This is the food of choice for the Fey," she explained, soaking more bread with honey and popping it into her mouth. "Milk and honey. This stuff is so fresh it's scary." Then, she looked between Seth and me. "You guys don't want any of this, do you?" she asked, looking pained.

"Go at it," said Seth.

I might have taken some just to try something new, but she looked as if she really wanted to eat it all herself, so I waved a hand at her, grinning.

She finished the milk and honey, then proceeded to tear off a piece of the honey comb and chew it happily. "This is the best part," she informed me. "It's like chewing gum."

"Faeries," said Edward, shaking his head. "I'll never understand."

"You're not meant to."

The words were ones we'd heard a million times over, but the exchange had an entirely different tone. It wasn't hostile as it had been before. This time, it was almost an overture to peace. Edward did not snap the word 'Faeries' and Olivia did not sneer her reply. This time, Edward had sounded exasperated and vaguely amused and Olivia had sounded almost smug, but mostly mysterious in her reply.

Seth and I grinned across the table at one another.

Edward showed Olivia around the house at that point and both were carefully cordial to one another. When they finally got to the grand piano, Olivia asked politely if he would mind if she played and Edward smirked slightly and told her it was fine.

She played another of those songs I recognized, but couldn't identify. Edward helped, though, by identifying it as Claire de Lune.

Olivia gave him a wicked little grin and changed the tempo mid-key stroke. Now, she played it in a sort of jazz beat with a crazy bass line.

Edward wrinkled his brow and stared at her. "What is that?" he asked.

"Jazz de Lune," Olivia answered without missing a beat. "I realized one day that the chords were all jazz chords and put this beat to it. Fun, huh?"

Bella, who had been tagging along, smiled. "I like it," she said. "It's different."

"Wish I'd thought of it," admitted Edward.

"Watch this," she said, stopping for a moment. Then, she started playing again, a different tune this time.

"First Arabesque," said Edward.

Olivia nodded and again turned the piece into jazz. "Debussy was VERY jazzy, even before jazz had been invented," she said. "You can do that with any impressionistic stuff, but Debussy's the best." She very smoothly transitioned back to Jazz de Lune.

Edward listened for a moment. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to the piano bench.

Olivia slid over and started playing lower on the keyboard.

Edward sat next to her and began playing along with her. Bella and I glanced at each other over the piano. She looked exactly how I felt- alarmed and baffled.

After about half a minute and without discussing it at all, Olivia and Edward had evenly divided the parts so that Olivia was playing a very complicated bass line and Edward an equally complicated melody. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as hard as that was to believe. Olivia had a serene little smile on her face and Edward's head was half cocked towards the sound of the music coming from the piano.

I just stared at them, not believing my eyes.

"What?"

Olivia had caught me staring, but had not stopped playing.

"An hour ago, you hated him," I pointed out.

She glanced at Edward as if shocked that he was sitting next to her on the piano bench. "You don't have to like someone to enjoy music," she said.

Edward glanced at her, half a grin on his face. "Even mortal enemies may enjoy the same musical styles and forms," he said.

"Exactly."

I just shook my head. They weren't about to admit that they'd had the wrong idea about each other. Not for several weeks anyway.

Edward gave me an exasperated look and Bella laughed. I kept forgetting they could both read minds. "Isn't there a way for you two to NOT do that?" I demanded.

"Not me," said Edward. "Bella can block it, though."

"But, he's so INTERESTING," said Bella.

Olivia grinned at me. "Yes, he is," she said cryptically.

It was nearly an hour before the two of them realized they were neglecting everyone else in the house. Seth and I didn't mind. He told me everything he could think of about his Christie and I listened patiently. It hadn't been long ago I'd wanted to tell everyone everything about Olivia, so I really couldn't fault him. Bella just listened to the piano music, sometimes humming softly to herself in a counter melody, sometimes just sitting serenely with her eyes closed, a soft smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Finally, though, they quit the piano and joined Seth and I where we sat nearby. "Is Seth boring you?" asked Edward.

"No," I answered quickly.

Seth saw through it, though. "It's okay, man," he said. "I know how it is. I need to shut up about her, don't I?"

"It's perfectly understandable," said Olivia. "You talk about what's in your heart and right now, there's only one thing in yours."

Seth grinned.

"We've left Maggie alone," I reminded Olivia. "And you know how she is at night."

She gazed off into the distance for a minute. "And it's going on ten o'clock," she said.

"You can tell the time without a clock?" asked Edward.

"Sort of," she replied. "Since I can control earth, I can also sense all of it at once and where it is in its spin, orbit and in relation to the moon and other planets. With enough concentration, I can tell you what day, month, year, hour, minute or second it is. You could put me in a coma for several years and I'd still be able to figure it all out."

"That's wicked cool," said Seth with a grin.

"You think everything is wicked cool," said Edward. "Especially lately."

"Everything suddenly is," replied Seth.

"Right," said Olivia. "Well, I'd better get back home before Maggie leaves me any surprises. See you at the beach tomorrow?" The question seemed to be for all of them, but was directed at Edward.

"Not me," he replied. "I frighten people in the sun."

"Oh, right," said Olivia. "I forgot about that."

"I'm staying with Edward," said Bella.

"I'll be there," said Seth. "We'll come back afterwards, okay, Edward?"

Edward grinned, glancing at Olivia. "Sure," he said.

Olivia smiled slightly. "We'll see you later, then," she said.

Edward saw us to the door and Bella ducked past him to give Olivia a hug. "I'm so glad you two can get along," she said. "Hopefully, in the future, it'll work out even better."

Once we were safely in the car and headed back to her apartment, I complimented Olivia on looking disappointed that Edward wouldn't be at the beach tomorrow.

"I think I actually was," she confessed.

I blinked. "You were?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said sheepishly. "I mean, we were just getting to know one another. You were right, by the way. He's not all that bad."

"So you don't hate him?" I asked.

"Not really," she said. "I think we can tolerate one another now. And, if there's a piano, we'll even get along."

I was stunned. Just three hours ago, they'd been bitter enemies and now they were getting along. It was amazing how people could change in so short a time and all over a piano and some milk and honey. Of course, these weren't exactly people. They were a Vampire and a Faerie. That could have something to do with it.

"When we first got there, Edward just stared at you, then you nodded and he stared at you some more... What was that about?" I asked.

"Oh," she said. "He asked permission to enter my mind. I think he wanted to be sure I hadn't tricked you into thinking it was a peace mission."

"And you let him?" I asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "A bit," she said. "I let him see I was sincere and that I didn't want to cause trouble. And he DID ask nicely."

I laughed. "I thought you said you wouldn't let a Vampire in even if he asked," I reminded her.

"I changed my mind," she said, shrugging.

"Faeries," I said, feigning exasperation.

"You wouldn't have me any other way."


	10. Honored

Olivia had decided to bring Maggie to the beach since no vampires would be there. She'd debated with herself for a long time, wondering if Nessie would disturb Maggie or if she'd go mad in the presence of so many weremen, but in the end, decided that if she got too troublesome, we could put her in the car for awhile. Maggie was excited when we got into the car. She wouldn't sit still so Olivia could get the seat belt through her harness and I eventually had to growl at her. Maggie thinks I'm her alpha, so she settled down at once.

Once we got there, Maggie was ecstatic. She pulled at the leash, trying to get down to the beach faster. She spotted Nessie and Jake and became nearly delirious with excitement. Nessie grinned when Maggie began sniffing around her feet. "I seem to have that effect on dogs," she said, looking sideways at Jake.

Jake grinned. "When have I ever sniffed your feet?" he asked.

Nessie giggled. "Seriously, though, pets seem to like me," she said. "Dogs and cats and parrots and anything that hangs out with people regularly. I guess I smell human enough that the other smell on me is intriguing to them."

Maggie gave up on Nessie then and turned to Jake. She sniffed at his knees for a minute, then sat down, tail wagging, and panted happily up at him.

"Maggie, this is Jake and this is Nessie," said Olivia.

Maggie looked between Jake and Nessie as if memorizing their names.

"She does a great trick," said Olivia. "Watch. Maggie!" Maggie looked at Olivia. "Where's Jake, Maggie?"

Maggie looked at Jake, and then back at Olivia.

"Where's Nessie?"

Maggie looked at Nessie and back to Olivia again.

"Where's Embry, Maggie?"

Maggie looked at me.

"That's crazy," said Jake, grinning.

"I have no idea where she learned it," said Olivia. "But, once she knows somebody's name, if you ask her where the person is, she'll look at them."

"What if that person's not in sight?" asked Nessie.

"She'll sniff them out," said Olivia. "She's amazing."

"Hey, there's Seth!" said Jake, grinning over our shoulders. "He's bringing that girl he met."

"Christie," I said.

"Yeah, her," said Jake absently. "That must be her. Hm. She doesn't look like a Native."

"Jake, don't stare!" said Nessie, poking him in the ribs.

Everyone else on the beach was making their way over to us, so they'd all be in place to meet Seth's girl. She was pretty- she had a round face, dark, straight hair cut in many different layers and dark, curious eyes. Her skin was very pale, though, not at all the right color for a Native. It was that pinkish peach of a Caucasian. She was very curvy. That was evident from the clingy- but not tight- jeans and t-shirt she wore. The t-shirt was black and had a picture of an Eagle and the words "Broken Walls" printed on the front.

"Hey, guys!" called Seth as they approached, hand-in-hand.

"Hi, Seth!" called Jake.

I waved.

Maggie barked once and proceeded to wag her tail.

Christie grinned at the dog and steered Embry towards her. She smiled- careful not to show teeth- down at the dog and held out a hand to her. "I'm Christie," she said.

Maggie sniffed her hand once and licked it.

"That's Maggie," said Olivia.

Christie glanced up, then straightened. "Miss Casey!" she said, a broad grin spreading across her face.

"Call me Olivia," Olivia replied, returning the grin.

"I'm Embry," I said, holding out a hand to her.

Her face lit up like she knew me, too. "I've heard a lot about you," she said, shaking my hand.

Seth introduced the rest of us. She gave Nessie a speculative and half distrusting look, but didn't say anything to her. She seemed to like Leah right away.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something different about Christie. She seemed very familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. I chalked it up to the fact that she was dressed very similarly to most of us- jeans and t-shirt, no shoes. It didn't seem quite warm enough for regular humans to be dressed like that, but she didn't seem to notice. Maybe Michigan was colder than I thought it was. Or maybe she just liked the cold better than most people.

Quil showed up with his Claire and Claire went mad over the dog. The dog seemed to like her, too, so Olivia let Claire hold the leash and made her promise not to let her off it, no matter what. "Maggie likes to run and we'll never get her to come back if she gets loose," Olivia explained.

Claire promised and she and Maggie went to go play in the shallow waves that washed up on the shore.

"Well, at least she won't need her weekly bath," Olivia said with a grin as Claire shrieked that the water was cold.

"Seth," said Christie suddenly, glancing suspiciously around at all of us.

"Hm?" said Seth, his attention immediately on her.

"How much…" she trailed off, looking nervous. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh… okay," said Seth, allowing her to lead him off.

"Oh, just tell him," muttered Olivia to herself.

"What?" I asked.

"Never mind," said Olivia.

"Hey, Olivia, can we get a little help over here?"

It was Sam. He and Paul were trying to get the fire started, but apparently the only book of matches they had had gotten wet and Paul wasn't having any luck with it. Olivia looked around furtively and walked casually towards the pile of driftwood. A few seconds later, she stepped back and the pile was now covered in blue flames. She held up one hand, thumb and forefinger extended like a gun and blew on her fingertip.

"That never gets old," snickered Collin.

"You've seen it, like, twice," said Jake. "Of course it hasn't gotten old, yet."

Nessie immediately went looking for sticks on which to roast marshmallows.

"You don't even like marshmallows," protested Jake.

"No, but Claire does," said Nessie, not giving up her search. "And besides, there's something satisfying about watching fluffed sugar burn."

"Isn't it a little early for marshmallows?" asked Quil as he and Claire approached.

"It's NEVER too early for marshmallows," declared Claire, struggling to hold Maggie on her leash.

Olivia went to take Maggie's leash and Claire gladly exchanged the dog for a marshmallow on a stick which she stuck over the bon fire. Quil warned her not to get it too close because the blue flames were hotter than normal and it would burn. Claire informed him that she LIKED them burned.

Maggie was busily sniffing Leah's knees and Leah kept trying to scratch behind Maggie's ears, but Maggie was absorbed in her task. Finally, though, she sat down and panted up at Leah and Olivia told Maggie her name. She then entertained Leah by demonstrating Maggie's "Find People" trick. Leah got a kick out of it.

I was just remembering the first time Olivia and I had been at First Beach together when we all heard a sudden cry of delight and exultation from the forest across the street. I looked in that direction, but didn't see anything.

"Was that Seth?" asked Leah.

"Sounded like it," said Jake. "He sounds happy."

"Wonder what about," said Sam.

Seth came running out of the woods, smiling excitedly. "Jake! Leah!" he called. "And Embry! And Quil! And Collin! Come here! You are NOT going to believe this!"

"What's up, Seth?" asked Jake.

"Just come here!" Seth called. "Quick! It's amazing!"

Jake motioned to us to follow as he started towards Seth.

"Will you be okay?" I asked Olivia.

"I'll be fine," she said. "Sam will keep me company. Hey, where's Rachel today, anyway?"

"She wasn't feeling very well," answered Paul. "I was gonna stay home with her, but she actually pushed me out the door. She doesn't like me sacrificing for her."

I hurried after Jake, Leah and Quil. None of us had missed the fact that he'd called all members of our pack that were there at the time- James, Tom and Michael hadn't arrived yet.

"What's going on?" asked Jake as we approached.

"Follow me!" he said, turning and heading into the woods. "I can't believe it. Oh, god, it's amazing!"

"Seth," said Leah as we followed. "Do we get any clues?"

"No," said Seth, nearly ready to burst. "It's not far. Come on!"  
We followed obediently into the forest. We hadn't gone far when we came across a tree on which hung a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with an eagle and the words "Broken Walls" printed on them. "Uh, Seth," I said, pointing to the clothes.

Seth nodded eagerly. "Christie!" he called.

From deeper in the woods we could hear something large running towards us. A huge white something appeared in the distance and before it arrived to stand before us, I recognized it as a large, purely white wolf. Even her nose was white. Her fur was shaggy and all different lengths. The way it hung around her eyes reminded me of the Jonas Brothers.

Jake swore.

Leah gaped.

I blinked several times.

"Are you serious?" Jake breathed.

"Yeah," said Seth, pealing off his shirt. "I can hear her, too! It's amazing!"

Christie politely turned her head to give us some privacy. She didn't really have to, I supposed, since we were all so used to changing around Leah, but it was a nice thought. I didn't hesitate to pull off my own clothes.

Leah, however, did. "Do you think it'll hurt the baby?" she asked.

Christie huffed and shook her head.

"Are you sure?" Leah asked, still looking wary.

Christie nodded.

"Okay," said Leah hesitantly. She began removing her own clothes; now that she had Bradon, she didn't really care how much we saw her naked. In fact, if she ever caught us thinking about it, she would tease us openly instead of ripping our heads off.

The instant I transformed, I was completely aware of Christie's presence in my mind.

_Hi,_ she said cheerfully.

Jake chuckled mentally. _Hi,_ he said. _I didn't realize there were any others._

_ Oh sure, _said Christie._ Apparently, we're all over the place. According to an Elder who was acquainted with my great-grandmother, anyway._

_ So this is what Olivia was talking about, _I said._ She said you had a secret and that Seth would like it._

Christie laughed inwardly, wondering vaguely how Olivia would have known in the first place. She quickly set that aside, though. _ I had only just started to suspect he was one, too, _she said._ His hand didn't feel cool to me. And then Leah… well, I don't understand it, but apparently us werewomen seem to know each other somehow._

_ That's why you seemed so familiar to me, _said Leah._ It was like I'd known you for years._

_ Yeah, _said Christie._ I guess it's always like that, but I've never met any other than my great-grandmother and that's not much of a proof since I already know her._

_ You don't look like a native, really, _said Jake.

_Well, I'm only a quarter,_ she said. _My grandfather was full. He imprinted on a German girl and my dad imprinted on an Irish woman._

_ Imprinting really isn't all that rare after all, is it? _commented Leah, sounding a bit disappointed.

_Frighteningly common, actually,_ said Christie. _It's so common that if wolves decide to marry before imprinting, they refuse to look anyone of the opposite sex in the eye for the rest of their lives. It tends to make them look like jerks, but they don't want to ruin their wives' lives._

In a flash, we all picked up a bit of her history. She'd known of the local Pack since she was about 6 years old because one of her older brothers had joined it. All four of her brothers and she were in the Pack, but her older sister was not. She'd briefly dated their alpha, but they'd decided to give up on it when she left for college because neither had imprinted on the other. She'd met Jack in college and had dated him because he was a good guy and she thought he deserved some love, but she hadn't really loved him. When he'd asked her to marry him, she'd agreed because it had been a public proposal and she hadn't wanted to hurt him. It had been six weeks until the wedding when she'd walked into the dress shop to pick up her dress and imprinted on Seth.

_Wait,_ I said. _YOU imprinted on HIM?_

_ Wild, isn't it? _said Seth._ I don't think wolves have ever imprinted on each other before._

_ There's a pair in Russia, I think, _said Christie._ Or maybe it was China. I don't know. Asia anyway._

_ How many werewomen are there? _muttered Leah almost to herself.

_Not many, as I understand it,_ answered Christie. _There's no official census, but my dad says that if our Packs are any indication, less than ten percent are female._

_ Packs? _said Jake._ Plural?_

_ There are three, _said Christie. _ Josh was my alpha, my dad's an alpha and my great-grandmother was an alpha. She's retired, now, though, so her second cousin took over. He sorta reminds me of Cheech Marín._

_Who knew?_ said Jake. _And here, we thought we were an anomaly._

_ Hardly, _said Christie._ There are packs all over the place. We're scattered now, and a lot of them are dormant because the leaders can't bear to keep them going if there's no threat. A lot of them seem to think it's a curse, but really, it's an honor. Especially for the girls, right Leah?_

_ !_

Leah was so surprised, no words came immediately to her mind. The only thing we got from her were disjointed emotions. She couldn't think, for the life of her, why it would be an honor to be a wolf.

_Yeah,_ said Christie. Now it was her turn to be confused. _Because only the strongest girls can be wolves. I mean emotionally strong. We're stable. Or at least relatively stable. Most girls are too emotional for stuff like this, but you and I, Leah, we can handle anything. Don't you protect your boys from anything? Bullies don't dare pick on your boys, do they? And nobody even thinks of slandering any of them, either, because you'll be there to stick up for them. And if they need it, you tell them off, don't you? And if there's trouble, you're the one to keep cool and do what needs to be done._

Leah thought it all over. Random images of chasing off bullies and yelling at us flitted through her mind. She'd even once told off Charlie to defend Quil._ Hm, _she said. _ I suppose you're right. Does that make me special?_

_ It does,_ said Christie._ Special in a weird way. We're oddballs, isn't it wonderful? It just means that our minds work more like a man's mind than a woman's. We can forget about how we feel and do what needs to be done._

_ So, what, we were meant to be men?_

Christie laughed._ Definitely not, _she said. _ I always feel it later. Once, I managed to get a gun away from a man who was robbing a bank. I didn't even think about it, just did it. And later, when the cops were taking my statement, I fainted. Can you believe it? When I was wrestling with the guy- nothing! But, when the cops asked me how the hell I did it, it overwhelms me and I pass out! A man would NEVER do that. No, we're definitely girls. Our minds are just slightly more masculine than the normal woman's would be._

_ Always knew you were abnormal, Leah, _said Seth.

_Shut up, Seth, _said Leah, but her voice was soft.

Christie grinned. _I'm getting out of this form,_ she said, snatching her clothes from the tree with her mouth. _Call me old fashioned, but I don't want a bunch of men to see me naked. At least not just yet. Maybe, if you let me join your pack, I won't care, but for now…_

_ You let me see you, _said Seth.

_That's different,_ said Christie, heading of into the trees. _You're going to see me that way sooner or later, anyway. I hope sooner._

She was out of sight and out of our minds at that point.

Seth was shocked.

_Come on,_ said Jake. _Let's get back to the beach. We'll have to tell Sam._

_ He shifted back and we all followed suit, quickly pulling our clothes back on. _

Christie rejoined us after only a few moments and slid an arm around Seth's waist. "I'm surprised," she said. "I'd have thought you guys would have wanted to talk about me while I'm not around."

"What I can't figure out," said Jake as we headed back towards the beach, "is why we can suddenly hear you."

"I think it's because Seth and I imprinted on each other," she answered. "It forced me out of my pack and into yours. I nearly freaked out after I met Seth. I transformed to try to get in touch with my pack and they just weren't there. I thought about it, though, and that's what I came up with."

"Why wouldn't Seth have been forced into yours, then?" asked Jake.

"Probably because we're closer to your pack," Christie said. "Or maybe because he's the guy. Sometimes nature is chauvinistic."

Leah made an angry noise.

"I didn't say I like it, but there it is," said Christie. "The men are always supposed to protect the women and children. Female birds have dull, flat colors to blend in with the trees and the male ones have bright colors to lure predators away. Which, if you think about it, is pretty good for us: we get to sit there, safe and sound, while the men go out and risk their necks for us."

"Except you and me," said Leah.

"We're the moms," said Christie. "We're here to keep this lot in line." She poked Seth's ribs; Seth jumped and playfully swatted her hand away. "And, we're wolves. Wolf mothers don't sit around while the fathers fight. They get out there and fight with the fathers. And they're more aggressive and more daring. Not because we have anything to prove, just because it's our nature. Sometimes our nature makes us do stupid things, though."

"Like chasing a Vampire alone?" said Jake pointedly.

Leah turned red.

Christie shrugged. "Or wrestling a bank robber for his gun," she said.

"That WAS amazingly stupid," said Jake.

"Like I said," she said simply.

Seth squeezed her shoulders.

Sam and the rest of them- including the rest of our Pack- were waiting anxiously to see what was going on.

"We have a new Pack member," Jake announced.

Sam's eyebrows scrunched down. "Where is he?" he asked, looking around.

"Not he," said Jake. "She." He gestured Christie forward.

Sam froze. Tom's mouth hit the beach. James stared at Jake as if he were insane.

"But, she's not even…." trailed off Collin.

"Quilleute," finished Sam.

"I'm Chippewa," answered Christie. "Well, a quarter, anyway. Most of my family is in one of the three packs we've got in Michigan."

"There are packs in Michigan?" asked Paul, looking confused.

"There are Packs all over the place," said Christie. "All over the world. Most of them are dormant, though, because the elders don't want to 'curse' the young with this. So, unless there's danger, they let it die out."

"That's something I didn't understand," said Seth. It was now his turn to look confused. "Do you mean to say that the Elders of the tribe could keep this going, even if there's NOT danger?"

"Sure," said Christie. "Our Elders do. That's how I joined the Pack. You can feel them when they reach the right age and you call to them, somehow… I've never figured out how, though. My dad knows how to do it. He called all my brothers and me out."

"Your dad had a choice and he let you-" Sam cut himself off, looking angry.

"Sam, relax," said Jake, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder.

Sam shook him off. "Don't you get it, Jake?" he said. "Her own father doomed her to this! He knew what she would become and he just-" again, he cut himself off.

"No!" exclaimed Christie. "It's not like that! It's… not a doom. It's… well, it's nature, for one thing. We were wolves and something changed us. Something… well, never mind. For another thing, it's an honor. Sort of like the army. The Green Berets."

"Christie's right."

We all turned to see Olivia standing there, hands on her hips, Maggie seated calmly at her feet.

"What?" asked Sam.

"It's not a curse," Olivia said, and somehow, her bearing and stance were almost regal. Standing there in jeans, T-shirt and wind breaker, she looked every ounce the Princess she was.

"And what would you know about it?" Sam asked.

Olivia's eyebrows shot up towards her hairline. "More than you," she said. "Don't forget- I'm older than all of you put together."

"Huh?" said Christie.

"I'll explain later," said Olivia. "As for you, Sam, I'm afraid you have the wrong idea about your pack. It is not a curse and is, in fact, an honor. Your ancestors were wolves- a race of super intelligent wolves, in fact. They were asked to take a second form in order to better protect the animals of the Earth and they agreed. This is why you are honored and not cursed."

There was a long silence.

"I'm not making the connection," confessed Jake, scratching his head.

"I think I see," said Nessie, eyes narrowed.

"Would you care to explain it to the rest of us?" asked Sam.

Nessie took a breath and hesitated. "It's difficult to explain," she said. "But, I think, because you have two forms, that THIS is the honor."

"What, having two forms?" said Paul, looking supremely disappointed.

"Yes!" exclaimed Christie, looking exultant.

"I think I missed something," I said.

"How many beings on this planet have more than one form?" asked Olivia.

"Just us, I think," said Jake.

"And Elders," said Olivia. "Who can be Vampire or human-like. And, of course, Faeries- who can change their appearance at will."

"Faeries?" asked Christie.

"I'll explain later," promised Olivia.

"So does that mean that Elders and Faeries are honored, too?" asked Sam.

"Definitely," said Olivia. "Anything that can take more than one form is honored."

"But, WHY?" asked Sam.

"Because of the extra responsibility that comes with those forms," said Olivia. "The Elders to protect humanity, the Wolves to protect beasts and the Faeries to protect the Earth. Because we have so much extra work, there is compensation."

"In the form of honor?" said Paul, still disappointed.

"Don't knock honor," said Christie seriously. "It gets you privileges."

"Like what?" said Tom disbelievingly.

"Like college paid for," I said. "I never could have gone to college if the tribe hadn't helped me out. And I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have helped me out if I hadn't been a wolf."

"Or putting in a good word for you to help you get a good job even though you don't have any experience at all," said Seth. "How else did I get that job with the construction company right out of a two year community college drafting program?"

"Or travel expenses to the Mayo Clinic," said Jake, his eyes on Tom.

Tom's eyes dropped to the sand. Two years ago, his mother had been diagnosed with cancer. On the recommendation of the doctors, his dad had wanted to take her to the Mayo Clinic, but they didn't have the money to get there. The council recently gave the family the money and his mother was currently in remission. She was due to come home next week. "You don't think they'd have done that if I wasn't a member of the Pack?" he asked.

"I'd like to think they would," said Leah. "But, the truth is… probably not."

"Like I said," said Olivia softly. "Compensation."

There was a long pause which Christie broke suddenly. "I'm a little surprised you guys didn't want to talk about it," she said with a grin. "Me joining, I mean."  
"I didn't think we had much choice," said Jake.

"Well, you don't," admitted Christie. "You could banish me, but given that Seth's imprinted on me, he'd probably be forced out, too. But, still, it's customary to discuss things like this, even if you already know the answer."

"Okay," said Jake, looking around at us all. "Does anybody have any objections?"

"I think it's great," said Collin.

Leah beamed at Christie. Somehow, I knew she'd be thrilled to have someone to whom she could relate. Those two would be best friends before the week was out and Leah would probably pick Christie as the baby's godmother.

Everyone else agreed with Collin.

"Right," said Jake, turning back to Olivia. "You're in."

Christie rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Well, that's something, anyway," she muttered.

With a wild whoop, Seth scooped Christie off her feet and twirled her in the air. She laughed and demanded to be put down, but he wouldn't do it without kissing her first.

"Okay," said Christie once she was back on the ground again. "Now, what's this about Faeries?"

Olivia gave Christie a similar demonstration to her previous two, but because we were outside, she was able to make it bigger. She made the bon fire leap fifty feet into the air, caused the waves to stop all together for a few minutes and made the earth shake a bit. She absolutely refused to do anything with the weather, though, claiming that on such a clear day, it could really screw things up.

Christie was delighted and Seth sat gazing at her in absolute wonder. When she finally realized he was staring, she returned the gaze with her own version which was mingled with euphoria. Olivia turned to roll her eyes at me, but found me echoing Seth's gaze. I grinned sheepishly as she squeezed her eyes shut, laughing out a moan.

Christie went back and forth between Leah and Olivia for several hours. At one point, Leah wondered away from Bradon to join Olivia and Christie and the three were inseparable from then on. Maggie kept getting passed from Claire to Olivia until Jacob decided that he needed to run with her. He tired her out. She finally gave up and plopped down at my feet, looking exhausted.

Finally, near dusk, the clouds started rolling in and Olivia started to look uncomfortable. Now that I knew minute changes in the Elements disturbed her, I understood what was wrong. I offered to take her home, but she wanted to go back out to the Cullen's again.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"Yes," she said. "Now ask me if I really want to."

"Do you really want to?" I asked her.

"No," she said with a smile. "But, I'm going to anyway. I need to."

I slung an arm around her shoulders as we said our goodbyes to everyone. Seth told me he'd see us at the Cullen's later; he wanted to introduce Christie to his best friend, but he had to warn her about him first. I thought that was a good idea. Taking a wolf to visit a Vampire without warning was a bad idea.

Olivia and I dropped Maggie off before heading over to the Cullen's. Bella was waiting for us on the porch when we got out of the car.

"Jake and Nessie aren't even back yet," she said as Edward joined her.

"The weather change was getting to Olivia," I explained.

Olivia glanced at me. "I didn't realize you'd noticed," she said.

"Of course he did."

Olivia looked at Edward. "What?" she said.

"He imprinted on you," Edward explained. "He knows everything about you by now."

"What's my favorite color?" Olivia asked me.

"I would say pink because you wear it all the time," I said. "But your whole house is in greens. You like green. You just look good in pink."

"Very good," she said. "Now for a tougher one. What's my mother's name?"

I thought for a second. "You told me it once," I said finally. "She's going by Penelope now, but her given name is Galima."

"Geez," she said.

"I know," I said.

Edward laughed.

"Come on in," said Bella. "Edward went after fresh honey and milk about an hour ago."

Olivia's eyes brightened and she immediately followed Bella into the house.

I rolled my eyes at Edward. "Girls," I said.

"No," he said, giving me a half a grin as he followed the girls into the house. "Faeries."

Olivia looked back at him over her shoulder. "Ha ha, Vampire," she said.

Bella laughed.

Olivia shared her milk and honey with me this time and I had to admit that it was pretty good. I'd never had milk straight from the cow before. It was thick and heavy and sweet. I wouldn't want to drink as much of it as Olivia did, though.

Olivia had just popped that last piece of honey soaked bread into her mouth when we heard two car doors slam.

"Seth," said Edward. "And a girl."

"A wolf," said Bella, surprised.

"Of course he's a wolf," said Edward, confusion masking his face.

"Not Seth, the girl," said Bella, brow wrinkling.

Edward's eyes took on a far-away look as he apparently studied the girl's mind from afar. "You're right," said Edward. "She IS a wolf. And she's nervous as all get out."

"Just how nervous IS get out?" asked Olivia, giving Edward a serious look.

Edward paused for a moment, then gave her that same half a grin that spoke of reluctant amusement. "I don't know," he said finally. "But, I would have to guess it's VERY nervous."

Olivia grinned back at him and Bella and I exchanged very relieved looks.

"Let's not keep Seth waiting," said Edward, heading to the door.

When we reached he hall, we could hear Seth reassuring Christie on the front porch and Christie worrying that she would loose her temper too easily and rip Seth's best friend's face off. We waited until the doorbell rang and Bella swiftly crossed to the door and flung it open.

Christie winced behind Seth, but Seth only smiled. "Hey, Bella," he said. "Jake and Nessie were heading over to Sam's for awhile. They told me to tell you that they'll be here in a few minutes. This is Christie," he said, pulling Christie forward.

Christie, however, was resisting. "Hi," she said her head turned half away from Bella.

"It's okay," said Bella with a small smile and half a glance at Edward. "We don't bite."

Christie gave her a laugh that was half frightened and half amused. "That's not what I'm afraid of," she muttered.

"Seth won't let you hurt us," said Edward.

"Neither will I," I promised her.

"Nor I," said Olivia unexpectedly.

I turned to stare at her, but she only gazed sympathetically at Christie.

"Come on," said Seth, pulling Christie into the house. "He's got a grand piano in here. And you should hear him play!"

Christie grinned as she caught sight of the piano and when she glanced back at Edward, both Seth and I knew that Edward had already won her over.


	11. Friends

_Ugh, Seth, get OVER it!_

_Sorry._

It hadn't even been a full week since Christie had revealed herself to us and just over two weeks since she'd met Seth. Apparently, yesterday, they'd gone to the courthouse and actually tied the knot. Seth was insufferable today. It didn't help that I'd known Olivia for months and wasn't getting much more than I did on our first date.

Was I jealous? Yes, I'd admit to that freely. The whole pack would soon know just how jealous I was. Jealous, frustrated and irritated- all were synonymous with Embry Call today.

_Look, Embry,_ said Seth, automatically reading my thoughts. _All girls are different. Olivia will let you know when she__'__s ready. And, besides, _he added almost smugly. _Christie imprinted on me, too, so the situation is completely different. We _both _know what we want and we__'__re both sure of what we__'__re doing. In your case, only _you _know what you want and are sure of what you__'__re doing. Olivia doesn__'__t have that luxury._

_ I know, _I said miserably_. It's just that I want her so much it hurts. I'd do anything for her and it's killing me that she's reluctant._

_ Didn't she say that Faeries don't rush these things? _Seth reminded me, pulling the memory from my own mind. _She's kissing you, so that's something. Didn't she normally say that takes years?_

_ Decades, _I admitted._ Why'd I have to be the one to imprint on a Faerie?_

_ Just lucky, I guess, _joked Seth.

I sent him a mental frown and he went back to thinking about his wedding night. I really didn't want to know what Christie looked like naked, so I tried to tune him out. It was hard, though. I suspected I'd rather run patrol with him than Christie, though, as I'm SURE I didn't want to have to listen to _her _thinking about _him_. My imagination of those thoughts flitted through my mind before I could stop them and I shuddered.

Seth laughed mentally. _You really think she__'__d think that? _he asked.

_Probably something like it, _ I replied. _I__'__ve seen the way she looks at you. Like she wants to take you right there. It__'__s sorta disgusting. Sometimes I think she__'__s just going to do it and horrify us all._

_ Leah used to look at Bradon like that, _he replied, disgusted_. She learned to control it. I guess werewomen just have a hard time controlling themselves. That's what Christie said her great-grandmother told her anyway. And not just with THAT, either! _he added quickly when my stomach threatened to heave._ With everything. That's why Leah's such a mother bear. Christie's like that, too. She wouldn't let me leave the house this morning without brushing my teeth. She says that wolves' teeth can still rot even if it DOES take decades to build up enough damage._

_That doesn__'__t help, Seth,_ I said.

_ Hey, man, just telling it like it is, _he said.

_Seth?_

_ Yes?_

_ Shut up a little._

_ Okay, _he said happily, going back to his previous thoughts.

_No, I changed my mind,_ I said. _Talk, please, just not about that._

Seth sent a mental chuckle and began singing old Beatles tunes to keep his thoughts under control. We always used Beatles tunes because they were the only ones we could all agree on. Even Christie- who had run patrol yesterday with Quil and two days ago with Jake- liked the Beatles. She's got some old LP's that her uncle gave her several years ago. She likes the White Album. Jake says he now knows every last word from that album and that Christie's memory is so good, he can pick up all the little pops and cracks her record player makes when she plays it.

_Yeah, it__'__s wild,_ said Seth, dropping off in the middle of 'Please Please Me' to comment on my thoughts. _She can think the whole song- guitar riffs and drum beats included. AND she sings in John Lennon__'__s own voice. It__'__s sorta like she__'__s playing a record in her brain._

_ How does she do that?_

_ She's just replaying memories of sound, _explained Seth._ Apparently it takes time to learn to separate the sound from what was happening at the time. But, you should see what she does when she's listening to her records!_

Along with a sense of definite smugness came the image of Christie executing some very spectacular 'non-dance' moves. I laughed inwardly- I couldn't help it. It was funnier that she did it in full view of people a lot of the time.

_She does that when she__'__s really happy,_ said Seth. _She actually CAN dance very well, but when she__'__s happy, she prefers to just flail around like that and she tries to get other people to join her, too. Bradon did the other day. It was hilarious. I think Leah would have joined in, too, but she fell down laughing._

I laughed as Seth showed me that memory._ That's great, _I said_. Hey, wait, Claire was there?_

_ Oh, yeah, she was dancing, too, _said Seth, now adding in the Elder I had glimpsed from the corner of his memory._ She keeps hanging around the rez, hoping to meet someone she calls Ha-vee._

_ Xaviér, _I told him_. X-a-v-i-e-with-an-accent-mark-r. It's Spanish. Like Xavier- _this time I pronounced it the English way,_ -but Spanish. She said something about having a vision of meeting a man named Xaviér at Jake's place at some point back when we first met the Johansens._

_ I must have missed that, _said Seth.

_So, she was dancing, then?_

Seth gave me a full mental picture of Christie, Bradon and Claire the Elder all flailing around in no particular manner, having a lot of fun in the process. I couldn't help grinning. I wondered vaguely if Olivia would join in if they ever started that around her. I decided she probably wouldn't- she was too reserved for such a thing.

_I don__'__t know,_ said Seth, catching the thought. _Edward says that Faeries can get REALLY emotional when they want to. Anyway, you__'__ve seen her with him. She reacts more strongly around him- and not just in anger anymore._

That was true. Edward made Olivia's smile reach her eyes and had, on several occasions, made her laugh so hard she cried. Her voice carried more emotion than I'd ever heard when she spoke with him. It wasn't just the flat, uncaring sort of voice she usually had. It had flavor, color and spice. There was something about Edward that brought Olivia out of her shell.

And Edward was just as affected by her. He'd always been slightly brooding, but when he and Olivia sat side by side at the piano, he would actually smile and laugh a lot. His normally passive face showed a range of emotion I'd never thought possible. Bella had noticed it, too. Nessie had once commented that her dad actually looked happy for the first time since she'd known him.

_Hm,_ said Seth. _Interesting. I didn't realize she affected Edward, too._

The thought crossed my mind before I could stop it.

_No!_ Exclaimed Seth. _Don't even think like that! I'm pretty sure that no matter how well they get along, Olivia could NEVER do that with Edward. Nor could he with her. Besides which, Edward is married._

_ I know, I know! _ I said. _I know it's completely impossible. I was just about to dismiss the thought. Give me a break, Seth, I'm only human. Well, I'm a wereman, but that's pretty close to human. I'm bound to think things like that now and then._

Seth allowed that and we ran the rest of our patrol in relative silence. I considered speaking with Leah about Olivia and Seth wondered why, but even I couldn't have answered that one. Perhaps it was just because she'd once trusted me with her problems.

Christie popped in at the same time Collin did. _Hey, guys! s_he said cheerily.

_ Jake's got you running a lot, _ I commented.

_ He wants me to run with everyone once, _ she said._ I think I get you next week._

_ Oh, great. _I didn't bother to keep the sarcasm out of my voice as Seth's earlier thoughts flicked through my mind.

To my surprise, she only laughed._ I won't be that bad, _she said. _ Collin's bearing the brunt of it tonight. _As if to prove her point, a thought of Seth danced through all our minds.

_ Oh, great,_ said Collin, mimicking my own sarcastic tone.

I wished Collin luck before shifting and heading for home. I paused only to pull on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before striding through the neighborhood. I was in my car and on my way to Olivia's within minutes. Part of me needed reassurance that she would actually be there, waiting for me with her typical smile and maybe even some freshly baked cookies, ready to purr, "my poor Embry" into my ear when I told her how I was feeling at that moment. That part of me needed her to tell me that she'd stop spending so much time with Edward and baby me some more. That was the unreasonable part of me.

That was also the part that was sorely disappointed.

I arrived on Olivia's front porch to find a note taped to her door.

_ Embry, _it said in her slightly untidy printing.

I've gone to compare manuscripts with Edward. He thinks he's written a

better one than my Sonata for Piano and Bagpipes. (Ha!) We might even

play a few of them. If you get here before eight, come to his place and we'll

give you a concert.

Love, Olivia

I read the note through twice before feeling a sharp pang of jealousy. I knew nothing was going on between the two of them. It wasn't that. The jealousy was because I couldn't share her music with her like Edward could. And I certainly couldn't trigger the same emotional responses that Edward did. She laughed easier with him than she did with me. It wasn't fair.

I frowned at the note. If I get here before eight? Of course I'd get here before eight! My patrol was done at six! Why WOULDN'T I get here before eight?

Slightly irritated, I went to my car, intending on just going home for once. She was supposed to be MY girlfriend and she was spending her Sunday afternoon with Edward Cullen! I stewed about that for a moment before I realized that I'd rather she get out and do something than sit around, waiting for me to come home. That would have been absolutely stupid. And it would have been really jerkish of me to expect it of her.

So, instead of going home, I headed for the Cullens'. If Olivia was there, that's where I'd be, too.

I climbed from my car as soon as I shut off the engine and just listened for a moment to see what was going on. Of course Edward would know I was here already, but I'd been thinking at him to not mention my vicinity to Olivia just yet. I hoped he'd comply.

Olivia was laughing. I couldn't guess what she was laughing at, but it must have been very funny because she couldn't seem to catch her breath.

I heard Edward chuckle over her. "It's not that funny," he said.

"Yes, it is!" she gasped, still laughing.

"Faeries!" I could hear the eye roll in his tone.

"I can't help it!" she gasped. "THIS was your inspiration? Oh, goodness!"

Now, Bella's giggle joined Olivia's. "It IS pretty funny, Edward, when you put it in that context," she said.

"Not you, too," muttered Edward. "They're ganging up on me. Merlin is a perfectly good inspiration for music."

"Merlin is, yes," giggled Olivia. "But, this cartoon version is HILARIOUS! And you got your whole image of Merlin from THIS?"

I grinned to myself as I walked towards the door. They must have been watching The Sword In the Stone. It had been one of my favorites as a child. I rang the bell, but didn't wait for someone to answer the door. I just opened it myself and walked in.

Olivia was seated on the floor in front of the big screen TV, watching Merlin and the child Arthur, aka Wart, walking through the woods. Her head turned towards me as I joined them. Her face was lit up in a smile bigger than any I'd seen on her ever before. Her eyes danced with the mirth that had so recently bubbled forth in gales of laughter. Her cheeks were rosy and her usually straight hair fell in waves around her face due to the unusually high humidity today. "Embry!" she exclaimed as if she hadn't really expected me. Her face lit up even more upon seeing me and she jumped to her feet- she moved almost as fast as Edward or Bella- and raced to throw her arms around my neck and kiss me happily.

All of my previous jealousy vanished at that moment, replaced by a certain smugness because I was the one who got to kiss her. I was the one who got to gather her in my arms and hold her tight. I was the one who got to lean close and breath in her scent without fear of reproof. All the time she spent with Edward didn't really matter in the end because she would always be ecstatic to see ME.

"Hi," I said as she pulled away to look up at me. I was struck by how her usually flat eyes shone with an ecstatic glee today. "You seem in good spirits today."

"Have you SEEN this movie?" she asked, indicating the TV to be the cause of her mood. "It's hilarious. And from that, Edward gets this," she said, indicating the sheets of music spread out on the floor. "I suspect he's lying to me."

"I don't lie," Edward insisted.

"Liar," said Bella.

"What?" demanded Edward, giving her a crooked smile.

"What age does it say on your driver's license?"

"That's different."

"Mhm."

Olivia grinned at me. "Bella must enjoy technicalities," she said. "She's been bringing them up all day long."

"How would you know?" asked Bella, a crooked grin of her own tugging at her lips. "You've only been here since two."

"See what I mean?" Olivia said, dragging me to the sofa. "How was patrol?"

"Boring," I answered. "Except Seth. He was unbearable."

"Oh?" said Edward.

I nodded. "Apparently, he and Christie got married last night," I said. "Shoot, I probably shouldn't have told you. It's his news."

"We witnessed," said Edward. "They were pretty jazzed."

Bella nodded in agreement.

"Seth's mom's not going to like that," I commented. "My mom would kill me if I eloped."

"Faeries don't get married," said Olivia mildly, as if commenting on the weather. "So mine wouldn't care."

"Faeries don't get married?" Edward asked, surprised.

"No," said Olivia. "But, we mate for life- and ours are very long- so it amounts to the same thing."

"So why not just get married?" he asked.

"Because it's redundant," answered Olivia with a shrug. "Once we choose a mate, there's a certain... bond formed. And it's unbreakable- we can't change our minds even if we want to. That's why we take so long to choose. Can you imagine making a rash decision and being completely and totally incapable- physically, I mean- of fixing the mistake? If we pick wrong, we're stuck for eternity."

"That's why it takes 40 years," I said.

"Forty!" exclaimed Edward.

"Yeah, forty," sighed Olivia. "Usually. Although, if its a mortal who's caught our attention, we try to speed things up. Mortals don't have time to wait forty years for us to make up our minds."

"If you choose a mortal," started Bella, her tone shrewd. "What happens when they die?"

"We can go on, if we like, but the thought of all those thousands of years alone is pretty depressing. Usually, we decide to be mortal and follow them."

"How can you 'decide' to be mortal?" Edward asked, adding finger quotes to the word 'decide'.

"It's... complicated," she replied, her eyes going distant. "But, once it's done, we begin to age. We grow old and we die, just like humans."

Suddenly, I realized why she seemed so distant. She had already resigned herself to this fate. She had already decided that she would choose me and that she would die. How long did she have? A hundred years? Less?

I reached up to brush the back of my hand against her cheek. Her eyes met mine and she smiled a bit sadly, the same old flatness back in her eyes. "But, never mind," she said, catching my hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. "That's still a long way off. Relatively," she added with a half grin.

I smiled back at her, vaguely wondering when she would make her choice formal.

Edward laughed out loud at that and Bella ducked her head; had she been human, she probably would have blushed.

"Sorry," I said, embarrassed.

"What?" asked Olivia, looking confused.

"Embry's thoughts are very interesting right now," Edward said.

"Oh," said Olivia, not really understanding, but deciding to ignore it. "Anyway, never mind. Here," she said, standing and gathering the sheets of paper off the floor. "We'll show Embry what that-" she pointed to the cartoon Merlin on the television, "-inspired."

She dragged me off to the piano, Edward and Bella trailing behind. "Shall I take the guitar this time, or do you prefer it?" she asked Edward.

"The piano part's harder," he said. "I guess I'd better play that."

She gave him a look that held both amusement and warning. "I'm better than you are, Vampire," she said.

"Yeah, yeah," said Edward, waving her off. "You're better at guitar, too, remember?"

Olivia grinned and took half the sheets to a music stand and chair next to which sat a guitar. Edward took the other half of the sheets to the piano and arranged them before him on the piano. Bella motioned me towards a leather sofa nearby and I followed her.

Olivia started first, the nylon strings of the guitar- I was proud of myself for knowing the difference between nylon and steel strings- singing out softly under her deft touch. After nearly a full minute, Edward started playing as well and the two instruments wove intricate melodies around one another. The music spoke vaguely of magic and Chemistry, which did remind me of Merlin, but certainly not the cartoon version. There was nothing silly in this music. It was all science and the wonder of the unknown.

The piano slowly faded out to nothing, leaving the guitar strumming softly for a few seconds and then that, too, faded away to nothing.

"That was wonderful!" exclaimed Bella, applauding them.

I nodded in agreement, adding my own applause.

"Thank you," said Olivia, inclining her head in a modest bow. "Although, I flubbed up a whole ten measures in the middle. The chording caught me by surprise and I lost my spot."

"I didn't notice," promised Bella.

I wasn't sure if she meant it or not, but I said, "neither did I."

Edward shrugged. "You covered well," he said.

"But, you noticed," said Olivia, smirking.

"I wrote it," he said. "I'd notice any deviation from the printed material."

Olivia grinned at him. "Of course you would," she said.

Edward grinned at her and I was stunned at the fondness in his eyes. It was the way I sometimes looked at my mother or the way he looked at Nessie. It was a very familial look that most people reserved for the members of their families to whom they are the closest. It told me a lot about the way he thought about her. She was a close friend- a sister, even.

I didn't realize I'd been staring at them until Bella nudged me lightly. I turned to see her grinning at me. "Take a picture," she said soflty as Edward and Olivia attempted the problem passage again. "Or should I say penny for your thoughts?"

"I just never thought they could become so close so fast," I said. "They hated each other just a few weeks ago."

"Yes," said Bella, looking in their direction again. "They've both grown. They did it for us, you know."

"I did, actually," I replied. "It only started for us, though. Now it's for them."

Bella grinned, her eyes twinkling. "Yes," she said.

"Does it bother you?" I asked.

"Not really," she answered. "Edward needs more friends. Look, Embry, don't let it bug you, okay? She loves you, doesn't she? Just remember that."

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "I thought of that. I get to kiss her, I get to hold her, etcetera. Still, I think I'm a little jealous. I can't do THAT," I added, indicating Edward at the piano.

"It doesn't matter," insisted Bella. "I can't either, but I know Edward loves me. For reasons I can't even begin to fathom, he does. And she loves you."  
"For reasons _I_ can't begin to fathom," I muttered.

Bella laughed, a warm, soft sound. "You imprinted on her," she said. "It makes you exactly what she wants and needs."

"Her cherry lozenge," I said, half to myself. "She said that once- that I was one of those cherry lozenges we used to suck as kids. The ones that tasted like candy but were actually cough drops? I can't remember the name of them."

"I know the ones," said Bella, looking as if she were concentrating. "I can't remember the name of them, either." She sighed, watching as Edward and Olivia bantered about whether or not her original version of the passage was better than what he'd written. "I have a feeling they're going to be best friends in another week."

I watched Edward's eyes twinkle as he hurled playful insults at Olivia, who laughed freely before making a suggestion about where he could put his guitar if he didn't like her playing and knew that Bella was right. Unless something unbelievably stupid would happen, the two of them were going to be doing everything together. The picture of Olivia hunting or Edward shopping crossed my mind and I decided that there were SOME things they wouldn't do together.

Bella grinned, laughing softly. She must have caught the picture from my mind.

Edward, who was not "listening" turned to give her an amused look. "What?" he asked.

"Embry is entertaining," she replied with a sideways look at me.

I repeated the thought for Edward's bennefit and he grinned.

"Am I the only one who doesn't get to know?" demanded Olivia.

"Yes," we all said at the same time.

"Fine," she said in mock annoyance. "I'll just assume it's the worst thing I can possibly think of and be annoyed with all of you for a week."

I bit my cheaks to keep from grinning. Finally, though, I gave up and said, "I was just thinking that you and Edward are getting to be such good friends that pretty soon, you'll go hunting with him and he'll go shopping with you. Then I realized that- guys? What's up?"

As soon as I'd said the word 'friends,' they'd looked at each other in alarm and now sat staring at each other, their expressions unreadable.

I looked to Bella for help, but she was keeping her face carefully nuetral. She wasn't giving anything away. Knowing I was not going to get any information any time soon, I forced myself to be quiet and wait.

"Are we?" Edward said after several moments of silence.

"Yeah, I think we are," Olivia finally answered, looking astounded. "Didn't expect that."

"Me neither," said Edward. He grinned at her.

She grinned back. "My friend, the Vampire," she said. "How will I tell mom and dad?"

"Forget mom and dad," said Bella seriously. "How are we going to tell Jasper?"

Edward moaned.

"Who's Jasper?" asked Olivia.

"My brother," said Edward. "Sort of. He's another member of my coven. He had a bad experience with a Faerie called Dominic once several decades before he joined up with us."

Olivia stiffened and her eyes went hard before she quickly schooled her features into her usual emotionless stare. "Yes," she said, a bitter tone to her voice. "A lot of beings have had trouble with him."

"You know him?" asked Edward.

"Unfortunately," she said, her tone now so distasteful, I thought she might start spewing venom, but she didn't offer any more information.

"Well, aparently," said Edward, sensing that she didn't want to give us any insight, "he gave Jasper and a couple of his friends a really hard time. He would never tell us what this Dominic did, but it made Jasper the most predjudiced vampire in the history of the universe."

"He sounds lovely," said Olivia, her tone so serious now, that I had to look at her to be sure she was joking.

"He'll listen to me," said Edward. "I'll tell him you're nothing like that other one. Don't worry."

"Is he coming here?" asked Olivia casually.

"Not that I know of," said Edward. "The rest of our family is in Nova Scotia at the moment. They've been there for the past year. Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Alice are all playing teenagers again, although, Alice is using the name Tiffany for some reason. Jasper hates it."

"I don't like that name much myself," admitted Olivia. "It sounds like a brainless cheerleader."

"She says updated names will help them fit in better," said Bella. "But we'll NEVER fit in."

"Nor will I, really," said Olivia sadly. "Even Rachel used to say I was different somehow, like I was raised in a completely different culture. I used to say that I technically WAS because I'm from Ireland, but she swore it went deeper. No matter how hard we try, we really just don't fit."

"We're a couple of misfits," sang Edward, almost to himself. "We're a couple of misfits. What's the matter with misfits? That's where we fit in."

Olivia grinned vaguely at him and sighed. "I suppose SOMEBODY has to be odd," she said.

"Otherwise normal people wouldn't feel normal," said Edward, a half a grin on his face. "Anyway, dinner!" he announced, jumping up from the piano. "Well, dinner for you two. Bella and I hunted yesterday. It should be just about done. It's been in the oven for a couple hours."

Olivia grinned wryly. "Don't suppose you brought back some Venison, did you?" she asked, standing to follow him to the kitchen.

Bella laughed.

"Actually, yes," Edward replied, looking amused. "Bella had a feeling you might want some."

"Wow!" laughed Olivia. "I was only kidding, but if you've got some, I'll eat it. I haven't had venison in ages!"

"If I'd known about Faeries before meeting you," I started, "I'd have guessed them to be vegetarians."

Olivia laughed. "Why on Earth would you think that?" she asked as we arrived in the kitchen and took places at the table while Edward started pulling out pots and pans.

"I don't know," I said. "It just seems likely that you'd have a problem with eating an animal. You know, as in they don't want to be eaten and all that."

"You'd be surprised," Olivia said. "One of my brothers- my blood brothers- can talk to animals and most of them don't really mind it so much, especially if some of their meet goes to our young. And then there are those who actually LIKE the fact that we eat them. Chickens, ducks and rabbits really like the thought that they may be food. Small fish and shellfish aren't intelegent enough to know what you mean by something eating them. Most of them can only concentrate on one topic for about three seconds. The larger ones sort of have an idea of what you mean, but they can't be bothered with something that doesn't concern the here and now, so they just tell you that they're busy and maybe if someone is interested in eating them at some time in the future, they might get back to us."

Bella laughed lightly. "In movies, whenever someone claims to talk to animals, they say that animals don't like being eaten," she said.

"Hollywood always gets that wrong," Olivia said. "And Bollywood, Berlin and London aren't any better."

"They never get anything right," I said, remembering a similar discussion months ago in the teachers' lounge at school. "Tonto and the Lone Ranger? Ridiculous."

Olivia gave me a wide-eyed, innocent stare. "You mean Native Americans don't tag along after white men, doing their bidding and saying, things like "kimosabi" and "how, white man?" I was under the impression that THAT was VERY accurate."

I rolled my eyes, but could not keep the grin off my face as I reached over and gave her a light shove. "How, white man," I scoffed. "Ridiculous."

"Actually," said Edward, taking the venison steaks and some roasted brocoli from the oven. "I think they say things like 'get off my land!' and 'kill the raging lunatic Vampire before he kills our friend' and, of course, any blond joke they can think of."

"The last one only when Rose is around," I said. "And that's mostly Jake."

"I've never been blond," said Olivia, gazing out the window. "I suppose I should have tried it along with the caucasion, but I didn't think of it."

"I think the auburn suites you better than blond would," I told her.

"What have you been?" asked Bella, interested. "I mean, what races?"

"Mostly various types of African," answered Olivia. "I was born with coffee-black skin and midnight black, wiry hair. I fussed with that first. I made my hair silky and straight. It didn't really look right, though, so after a few centuries I put it back. I tried Egyptian. That was during the time of the Pharohs. That was fun. I was a slave then. A well treated one, of course," she added at our looks of outrage. "And entirely by my choosing. You see, I learned a lot as a slave. It gives one a different perspective. And, once I'd lived a lifetime as a slave, I swapped out Egyptian for the life of a Moor. That was fun, that was." She grinned hugely. "You see, the Moors have always kept their women safe. I didn't have to do anything in particular. Being a woman, I had to belong to someone, so I got myself adopted by a rich old cattle hearder. He kept trying to marry me off, so I had to pretend that I'd never become a woman- meaning that I didn't have a menstral cycle. I managed to grow 'old' there," she said, adding finger quotes to the word 'old.' "His son took care of me after he died.

"And, even more fun than that was when I went to China!" she said. "I worked in the palace. They teach women martial arts there just like they do the men. They always said- and I agreed- that it would be ridiculous to teach only the men because when the men had to go fight in some war, leaving the women unprotected, they should leave the women some sort of defence. So, they taught us all how to fight. Many of us could take on men of a similar size and if there were several of us, we could easily defeat a man twice our size. When skill is equal," she explained. "Size matters. A one hundred and five pound woman cannot defeat a two hundred and fifty pound man- or woman- if they have both studied combat for the same amount of years and have put in the same amount of practice.

"I was an Australian Aboriginal for a time, too. That wasn't very interesting, so I only stayed there for one lifetime. India was interesting. I joined a convent there and learned nursing. I stayed in India for a total of five lifetimes. After the convnt, I apprenticed a baker, then I learned dressmaking, then music and last I was a shepherdess. I think I liked that the best of all.

"I spent time in Mexico and in Isreal. I went to England as a Spaniard. I went to Korea and the Philipines and Malasia. I even went to Russia, but as an African again. Eventually, I made my way to the states- I lived in Kansas as a Cherokee for awhile before deciding to try caucasion and moving north."

"Wow," said Bella. "So you were a slave, an orphan, a shepherdess and a nun?"

"Among other things, yes," said Olivia with a smile.

"What was it like?" I asked, unable to keep the concern out of my voice. "Being a slave?"

"For me, and for most slaves, it wasn't so bad," she replied. "We were fed well, given a place to live and treated with kindness for the most part. My mistress was the wife of a business man. My duties were to care for her. I prepared her meals and washed her clothes and brushed her hair and helped her bathe. And she took care of me in return. If ever I needed new clothing, she saw to it that I had the material with which to make them. She even bought me jewelry from time to time. There were times when she became suspicious of me, saying that I didn't seem very normal. I would pretend to be ill or injurred and she would be consumed with nursing me back to health and forget all about my abnormalities for awhile."

"She never whipped you or anything?" asked Bella.

"Heavens, no!" exclaimed Olivia. "She and her husband were good slave masters. Only the bad ones- those who were terrible at managing their affairs or insecure in themselves- dared to beat their slaves. No, Nourbese was a good mistress. I loved her dearly."

It was a take on slavery I'd never heard of or even considered before. Olivia's picture of slavery as one of friendship and love confused me. "But," I said, trying to get a handle on things. "They forced you to do things. You HAD to work for them whether you liked it or not."

"Yes," she admitted. "And at first, it was difficult. After a few years, though, I found that whatever Nourbese asked of me, I would happily do because I knew she cared about me and I cared about her. There was, however, that underlying knowledge that I was in bondage. No matter what I wanted, I could not escape. I learned that no matter how much a slave is loved, she is still a slave. The thought of freedom was frightening to us because we didn't think we would know how to take care of ourselves. But, freedom, no matter how frightening, is always better. To be one's own master is preferable to serving another."

"Did they ever set you free?" asked Bella.

Olivia nodded. "On my mistress's death bed, she gave me my freedom," she said. "Even though I had lived many, many years as a free woman before I met her, the thought of freedom was frightening and exciting all at once." She grinned wryly. "Her grandson offered to marry me. I refused, of course, telling him that I would like to return to my own people. He didn't press the issue. Sometimes, I still miss them. They were like family to me."

Bella and I were both interested in hearing more about slavery, but Edward interrupted before either of us could ask any more questions. "I find it interesting that you were Cherokee," he said with a crooked smile. "And now you're dating a Quilleute."

She grinned. "Yes," she said. "And this just before I moved to Washington."

"Wild," said Edward.

"Yes," Olivia said. "At the time, I remember thinking that this is surely not where I was meant to be. But, when I met Rachel, I loved her so much, right from the beginning that I started to think that maybe it wasn't natives, but Cherokees that were all wrong for me."

"I'm sure the Cherokees would be very happy to know that," I said.

"Don't you dare tell them," Olivia ordered, pretending to be stern.

Edward served up our dinner then and I could tell that he and Bella were trying hard not to breath it in. We chatted amiably about Olivia's other lives. I found her life as a nun to be the most interesting. Bella made her speak several languages in a row, including Swahili, Russian, Hindi, Afrikaans and Ancient Egyptian.

Olivia dragged me out as soon as the kitchen had been cleaned. It was a school night, she said, and we both had to get up in the morning. I followed her to her apartment and stayed too late, like I always did. I managed to get home and sleep in my own bed- something that didn't happen much any more- on Olivia's insistence. At first, I feared that she might have gotten sick of me, but her kiss at the door convinced me that I was being silly. No, she'd meant it when she said that I was too distracted by her. And I was. I had a hard time sleeping when she was around.

So I went home and lay awake half the night, wondering what she was doing.

Damned if you do....


	12. Home

If I'd been jealous and frustrated before, it was nothing compared to a just a week later. Olivia had spent most of her time with Edward Cullen and even though she was thoroughly delighted every time she saw me, it still irked me that she didn't spend more time with me. Sure, I was the one who got to kiss her and hold her, but did she HAVE to spend nearly every minute with _him_?

I kept my feelings to myself, though, knowing that it would only kill her if I told her how jealous I was. She'd stop spending time with him and then she'd miss him and I'd feel guilty which would make her miserable and that would make me even MORE miserable. I just bore my pain as best I could and tried not to tell her about it. I also managed to keep from thinking about it around Edward. If he had any inkling about my feelings, he didn't say anything about it.

As for frustration, she didn't seem any nearer making our relationship more permanent than she had on that first date. She made me go home on school nights, but allowed me to stay all weekend if I liked- which I did. It was a form or torture, lying next to her and having to keep from touching her, but it was equally as uncomfortable being away from her during the week.

_Sounds like a nice couple of dilemmas you got there._

I snorted mentally and bristled at her interruption. I'd nearly forgotten Christie was running with me today. She was so quiet sometimes. I still hadn't been able to figure out how she could keep from thinking sometimes.

I c_oncentrate really hard on running, _she said. _I think you should tell Olivia about the jealousy, by the way._

_She'll only feel guilty,_ I insisted.

_Probably, _said Christie. _But, she'll be really annoyed if she finds out on her own. Just admit that you know there's nothing weird going on and maybe you don't even want her to change what she's doing, but you're jealous. Make it joke or something. You know, "can you believe I'm actually JEALOUS of HIM?" She'll laugh it off at first, apologize and promise to pay more attention to you, but she won't feel guilty._

_You really think that'll work?_

_Trust me, _she laughed. _Girls are weird. Of course, Olivia's more perceptive than most. I don't know, maybe she already knows you're feeling jealous. She freaks me out sometimes._

I knew what she meant. Olivia caught on to things quickly, sometimes. The only time she didn't seem to catch on was when she was distracted too quickly or when she didn't really care or held no interest for the topic at hand.

_Distract her, then, _said Christie. _Quickly. Tell her all that and then ask her if she wants to catch a movie or something. All at once, real quick like that. "Can you believe I'm actually jealous of HIM? Weird, huh? Oh, well, wanna go catch a movie? The preview for the one about the Dragon looked pretty awesome." She'll forget all about the jealousy at once, but it'll be there in her subconscious. Then, she'll start spending more time with you and she won't even feel guilty for making you sad. Win win._

_Are you sure that'll work?  
No, _she laughed. _It could backfire horribly. I'm just talking out of my ass, Embry._ And she started to whistle mentally.

I listened to her for a long time before I realized there was more than one whistler. _Who's that? _I asked.

_Just me, _answered Christie and the whistling cut off. _It's something I'm experimenting with. Turning orchestrations into whistling in my mind. It's tricky, but at least I'm not thinking about Seth, right?_

I laughed. _Is that how you keep your mind occupied?_ I asked.

She laughed back. _Would you rather hear about Seth's naked, scrumptious bod-_

_Ew!_ I exclaimed.

_Right, _she said and went back to her whistling.

After several minutes, I recognized the tune she'd been whistling as Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin was one of Olivia's favorite composers and she listened to him a lot, so I was familiar with most of his works.

_Their works,_ Olivia commented. _There were two of them- George and Ira. George was the composer and Ira the lyricist, but they worked jointly on most things. Although, I suppose George DID do Rhapsody in Blue by himself. I think. Hm, I'll have to check that out._

_Whatever, _I said. _Just don't think about Seth, whatever you do._

She laughed, but obeyed by continuing her whistling symphony. Eventually, though, she gave it up as too difficult and just played it through normally- piano, violins and trombones; I was proud of myself for knowing even that much.

_You know what, Embry? I quite like you. Maybe even nearly as much as Leah does._

_Leah likes me? _I was stunned.

_Well, she certainly speaks very highly of you,_ answered Christie. _She's almost as proud of you as she is of her own brother. Sometimes, I think she's MORE proud._

That was strange. I'd never known Leah was fond of me. Sure, we somehow wound up sitting together and talking about anything when in the same room. But, Leah was just easy to talk to. I'm sure everyone else thought so, too.

_No,_ said Christie. _Everyone else does NOT think so. In fact, you're the only person aside from me who considers Leah a friend. Well, and Bradon and Seth, but that's different._

_Obviously, _I said.

_She said that you always stood up for her in the beginning,_ continued Christie. _When it was hard for her. 'Go easy on her, guys, maybe she just doesn't have the control we do and doesn't want to admit it.' She said that wasn't the problem, but you were so understanding... wait, she was being horrible about YOU?_

My mind had involuntarily called up the things Leah had been dwelling on when she'd first joined us. A lot of it had to do with my mother and my unknown father. Mom had always told me he was dead and I'd assumed she'd come to La Push from the Maka rez to get away from the memories. But, the only people who could join the pack were descended of one man and in order for me to be a descendant, my father could be only one of three men- all of whom were married at the time of my conception and birth.

_That's not necessarily true, _said Christie hesitantly.

_What?_

_You might not be a member of the Quilleute wolf pack at all,_ said Christie. _After all, the Quilleutes aren't the only wolves in the world. The Chippewas are wolves, too, after all._

_So I might be from a different pack?_

_Quite probably, _said Christie with a slight air of indifference. _There are other wolves around, too. There's a pack of caucation ones up in Canada and I think there's some Mexican ones, too. And, the different species of wolf are so interbred by now that there's probably wolf descendants in every race known to mankind- and some unknown ones, too._

_I guess that explains the others,_ I said. Thomas and Micheal weren't any relation that we'd been able to figure out and we'd suspected more infidelity- possibly in previous generations. Sam had three in his pack who nobody could account for, either. Jesse, Noah and Art were of no relation that we could tell.

_Yeah,_ said Christie. _If we cared enough, we could probably trace them to some backwater wolves somewhere in the world. For all we know, they may be related to the African packs. Human histories are so convoluted and strange, there's no way to know for sure._

_How do you know so much about this?_ I asked.

She laughed mentally. _When you embrace what you are, you learn a LOT about it,_ she said. _And, since I've accepted it so thoroughly, I'm really good at all the little tricks and turns of it. In fact, I'll bet you can't even feel the new one._

I froze mentally and lost my footing. I went tumbling into a tree trunk and was momentarily dazed.

_You okay? _Christie asked in alarm. I could hear her change course to come check on me.

_I'm fine,_ I told her, picking myself up and shaking the dirt and leaves out of my fur. _Just bruised my pride is all. What new one?_

_The new pack member,_ she said. _I can feel him- I'm sure it's a him- coming to join us. He's young, but not as young as some of those who are already in the pack. I'd guess him around 17. He'll be strong, too._

_How can you feel him if he hasn't changed, yet? _I asked, resuming my run.

_I told you,_ she said smugly. _Once you fully embrace what you are, you'll pick up all the tricks and turns on your own. I can't explain how I feel him, I just do. He's there and he's strong and he'll join us within the next couple of weeks. I'm tempted to call him out, but I don't think Sam and Jake would be very happy with me. And, it seems like he'll come out on his own- they always do when there's a threat. _She frowned mentally. _I've never felt new ones before,_she said. _But, I think I COULD work out how to call him out...._

_Best to leave that alone for now,_ I advised. _I think Sam and Jake WOULD be annoyed at you for that._

_Probably._

We spent the rest of our run in relative silence, Christie entertaining me by singing random songs. I joined her sometimes, when I knew the song. Just as she was starting in on Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Jake popped in.

_Hey, guys,_ he said. _Sam and I got it from here. Embry, Olivia's at Edward's again. Nessie's there and so's Charlie and Claire the Elder. You'd better hurry, Claire is freaking Charlie out- he keeps trying to work out what she is._

I grinned at the thought. _Heading there now,_ I said, changing direction and heading towards the Cullens' place. I phased to human as soon as I was in sight of the place and threw my shorts and T-shirt on before heading up to the house.

Bella opened the door for me before I could even think about knocking. "Hi, Embry," she said. She looked stressed.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I entered the house.

She sighed. "Charlie says my mom wants to come for a visit," she said, closing the door behind me. "I don't think we can convince her NOT to. I went to see her a few years ago, but... well, I was able to disguise what I am by telling her I'm on special medicine and I'm supposed to stay out of the sun. She noticed things... I'm just worried she'll see the resemblance between Nessie and me and between Nessie and Edward." She sighed. "It's going to be hard."

"I told her we'd just tell her that there are things she doesn't want to know," said Nessie, who was just coming down the stairs. "And hopefully, Renee will trust us."

Bella nodded, but looked worried.

"Embry!"

I looked up to see Olivia nearly flying down the stairs towards me and I felt my face meld into a goofy grin. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

"Hello to you, too," I said.

She grinned, eyes twinkling. "I can't help it lately," she said. "There's something about spending time with one's soul mate that makes one miss one's significant other."

My brow wrinkled in confusion. "What?" I asked.

She laughed. "Spending time with Edward makes me miss you," she said.

"Spending time with your soul mate...?" started Bella, her brow also wrinkled.

"Right," Olivia said, a sheepish grin on her face. "Humans- well, everyone aside from Faeries, really- have the wrong idea about Soul Mates."

"Enlighten us, then," said Edward. He was on the stairs with Charlie and Claire trailing behind him. Charlie looked as if he was trying not to look at Claire. He spotted Olivia and tensed, though I didn't think he could have heard what she'd just said.

Olivia noticed him and seemed to come to a decision, but plowed on with her explanation. "Well," she said. "A soul mate isn't someone you should marry. They're more like twins or very close siblings. Sometimes, you have nothing at all in common with them, but for some reason, you just get along perfectly. Other times, you have a LOT in common; that makes more sense. Sometime, soul mates are opposite genders, sometimes the same. A few people have made the mistake of marrying their soul mates, but these marriages always end pretty fast. Have you ever known people who got divorced and within a few months, they're friends? They might marry other people, but somehow, they manage to keep up a VERY good friendship. Those people are soul mates."

"Are you saying WE'RE soul mates?" asked Edward.

"Yes," said Olivia. "We are. Why else do we get such strong emotional responses from one another? Why else do we get along while having very little in common? We hated each other at first, but once we got over our prejudice, we became friends very quickly."

"What's Bella supposed to think about that?" asked Edward, smirking.

"She shouldn't care, really," said Olivia. "Her soul mate's Jacob Black."

"What?" asked Bella, astounded.

"I could tell from the moment I met you," said Olivia. "You and Jake are easy together. You just get along for no real reason. Sort of like Edward and me."

"Well, if Jake's her soul mate," said Nessie, "who's mine?"

"I don't know," said Olivia. "It's possible that you haven't met him or her yet."

"Will I?" Nessie asked.

"Nearly everyone does, eventually," said Olivia. "Provided you live long enough."

"Do I know mine, yet?" I asked her.

"Yes, but neither of you realizes it, yet," Olivia replied. "You don't even realize you're friends."

"Who?" I asked.

"Nah, that could jinx it," she said. "You'll get around to it. Anyway, Edward was just about to serve milk and honey. Come on, I'm sharing this time. Charlie, you were saying something about Freddie, weren't you?"

It was then that I noticed the strangled look on Charlie's face and realized that this whole discussion was making him nervous. He grabbed the new subject gratefully and launched into a story about Freddie's excitement over starting school in the fall. Olivia paid full attention to him as we went to the kitchen and Edward put the bread, milk and honey on the table. She cooed and sighed at all the right places, allowing Charlie to brag on his son just as long as he wanted to.

Finally, though, Charlie seemed to tire of talking and started asking Olivia about her job. She was only too happy to brag on her students- all of whom were excited to start band or orchestra in the fall. She'd have gone on much longer if Charlie hadn't interrupted her.

"You're not human, either, are you?" he asked, looking strained.

Everyone froze for a moment. I stared at Charlie apprehensively. Bella laid a hand on her dad's forearm. Edward pretended not to notice the tension.

"No," said Olivia finally. "In fact, I'm least human of anyone here. And yet, somehow more closely related."

Charlie nodded. "If I had to guess, I'd say you're an angel," he said evenly.

Olivia laughed nervously "Embry would probably agree," she said.

I nodded fervently.

That did the trick. The tension in Charlie's face eased as he laughed. "All right," he said. "I guess if I don't wanna know, I shouldn't ask."

"Good rules to live by," said Nessie.

"Yeah, well," said Charlie, standing. "I should get home. Sue will be wondering where I've got to. You take care, kid," he added, patting Bella's shoulder gently. "And don't worry too much about your mother. We'll figure something out."

Bella saw her dad to the door, leaving the rest of us in the kitchen. Without consulting on the matter, Edward and Olivia began clean up of the milk and honey dishes.

"I think I've just worked out who my soul mate is," said Claire pensively. "We have very little in common and there's a HUGE age difference."

Olivia grinned over her shoulder at Claire as she began running hot water to wash the dishes. "The other Claire," she commented.

Claire's eyes lit up. "She just GETS me," she said. "And she's ten. Ten! How does a ten-year-old human understand a 30-year-old Elder?"

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "You're thirty?" I asked, disbelieving.

"Well, I was when I became an Elder," she said. "I'd be 36 this fall if I were still human."

"I'd have sworn you were no older than twenty," I said. "Maybe more like seventeen or eighteen."

Claire shrugged. "I've always looked young," she said. "You should see my sweet sixteen picture. I look like I'm about twelve!"

"Talk about looking young," said Edward, drying the first of the washed dishes. "I don't look anywhere NEAR my age."

"YOU don't?" scoffed Olivia. "Just look at me!"

We were all laughing when Bella came back to the kitchen, a grin tugging at one corner of her mouth. I was confused for a moment, but then remembered that she must have been listening to our conversation in her head. "So how does this Soul Mate thing work?" she asked, sitting across from me and turning to half face Edward and Olivia at the sink. "I mean, what makes a soul mate?"

"Souls are always made in twos," answered Olivia, and I got the idea that we'd only paused that conversation for Charlie's sake. "And they're put on Earth at the same time. Sometimes, they find one another right away, but other times, they're near death before they meet and on the rare occation, they never meet."

"But, if they're put on Earth at the same time," started Edward, "how do you explain us? I was born thousands of years after you."

"Time is relative," answered Olivia, rinsing a glass and handing it to Edward. "It's different for- on the other side. We were placed on Earth at the same time on the other side. However, we actually arrived several thousand years apart."

"Does that happen often?" Edward asked.

"No," said Olivia, rinsing the last of the dishes and wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Usually, the ones who place the souls are very careful. However, if one is a near immortal- such as Faeries, or one destined to become an Elder- they have some fun."

"And who gets to put the souls on Earth?" asked Bella.

Olivia studied Bella as if she were dealing with a very intelligent and as yet unknown species. "We call them- and they call themselves- The Keepers. You would call them Seraphim."

"Angels?" I asked, disbelieving.

"They are the creatures you call angels," she allowed. "However, that term is so misunderstood and so flawed that they do not like it."

"Misunderstood how?" asked Edward.

Olivia gave him a look halfway between warning and exasperation. "We were talking about Soul Mates," she reminded him. "Not the Keepers. As I was saying, the Keepers put the souls on Earth at their discretion and it is up to us whether or not we find one another. More often than not, though, we do. Soul Mates call to one another from the moment they are called into existence. In only the most extreme circumstances do we not find one another."

"I wonder if the Keepers knew I would become a Vampire," said Edward.

"They knew it was a possibility," said Olivia. "They knew every possibility for your life when they put you on Earth. They knew it was possible that you would survive the Spanish influenza of your own accord. They knew it was possible that you would die of it. They knew it was possible that the Vampire in Whom They Are Pleased would intercede on your behalf. They knew it was possible-"

"Wait," said Bella, her brow wrinkled. "The Vampire in Whom They Are Pleased sounds like a title."

"It is," said Olivia slowly, as if unsure that she should be telling them this. "That he should choose the life of an Elder, though he is not one, is very pleasing to them."

"Then, are they pleased with all of us?" asked Edward. "His coven and Tanya's and any others who choose this lifestyle?"

"Yes," answered Olivia. "But he was the first, so he gets the title. Anyway, they knew it was possible that you could dodge the sickness altogether. They probably even knew every possible outcome of your life- from Mobster to Marine, from Bounty Hunter to Body Guard and everything in between. In fact, I'd guess they knew you might break away from Carlisle someday to hunt evil humans. Which, by the way, the Faeries would LOVE."

"Really?" asked Edward, stunned and disbelieving. "You never struck me as the sort."

"We're sorta vindictive that way," said Olivia, an ironic smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. "We love to see the bad guy get what's coming to him- whether by justice or by vigilante."

I was beginning to see how Olivia expertly steered them away from things she didn't want to talk about for one reason or another. Sometimes, she was covert about it, sneaking in facts about something unrelated or artfully redirecting the conversation back to the previous topic. Other times, she was blatantly obvious, simply reminding them that they were off topic or even just saying outright that she didn't want to discuss that. It made me admire her all the more.

I tuned back in as Bella was asking where the Keepers lived.

"They live in my true home," said Olivia, looking pained.

"Where is that?" asked Nessie.

Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but her breath caught in her throat. With a little sob, she said, "I don't want to talk about it."

Edward looked at her with concern. "Was it that bad, there?" he asked. "I've been wondering why the Faeries would have left and I thought maybe it was a terrible-"

"It was perfect," interrupted Olivia.

"Then why leave?" asked Edward.

Olivia sighed. "Because we were asked to," she said. We all stared at her, confused, until she continued. "Imagine that you absolutely love your home so much that you never want to leave," she said. "It has everything you could ever need or want. The skies are the perfect shade of blue and the grass is thick and green and it never rains because it never has to. The trees are tall and all the animals get along and if you want to eat a T-bone steak, nothing has to die to give it to you.

"Now imagine that you love the man who owns this place. He is the most important thing in your entire existence and you love him like he's the best father in the universe. In fact, you love him so much, you would do anything he asked. You don't even have to know what it is, he need only ask and you will do it, no matter the cost to you." Her breath caught again and she closed her eyes for a moment. When she continued, it was in a strained voice. "And, when he comes to you and says, 'I need you to leave this place to do some work for me,' you agree to go. Though it pains you to leave, you go because HE asked you to. You go because it was HIS will that you do it and you'll do whatever he wants you to because you love him more than anything."

A sob escaped Olivia's lips then and she turned her head away from us. I rushed to her side, but Edward was faster. His arm was around her shoulders before I'd taken two steps. I knelt in front of her and took her hands in mine, but didn't say anything.

Finally, with a loud sigh, Olivia turned to face us again. This time, I realized what the dead, unemotional look in her eyes was. It was escape. She didn't want to think about her home or the Keepers or this man who had asked her to leave because it hurt too much, so she escaped into the unemotional.

"That is why we left," she said, her voice flat once more. "And why we do not like to talk about things that belong there. It hurts too much."

"Can't you go back?" asked Claire sadly. I'd nearly forgotten she was there.

"Not until our work is done," answered Olivia. "And that won't be for a very long time.

...............................

We stayed at the Cullens' for about another hour. Edward tried to make the tone of the evening lighter to make up for Olivia's pain earlier in the evening, but it didn't seem to be working. In the end, they sat at the piano together, muttering chords to one another and improvising around them. The tune was mournful and yet slightly hopeful as if the end of the sadness was in sight. Claire took up the guitar about midway through and added some artful yet simple strumming and picking. Finally, I dragged Olivia out, seeing that she was not feeling any better.

As soon as we got into her apartment, I shushed Maggie and wrapped my arms around Olivia. She was crying at once and it caused a pain to shoot through my heart. All thoughts of revealing my jealousy of Edward vanished. I would NOT add to her pain. "It's okay," I cooed into her hair. "I know, it's a terrible thing to have to do- leave this Father and the home you loved so much."

"I'm glad I did, I suppose," she sobbed. "The Earth needed us. It still does. But it hurts to be unable to talk to him like I used to. I miss it."

"Maybe he gave me to you for that purpose," I suggested.

She laughed through her tears. "Oh, Embry, you could never fill his shoes," she sighed. "And I wouldn't want you to try. I think he gave you to me for some other reason. You're not meant to be a father. At least not to me. You're meant to be something else."

"Something... else?" I suggested.

She laughed again, softer this time. "Yes, probably," she said, nuzzling my chest. "My poor Embry," she cooed.

I kissed the top of her head. "I'm not poor," I insisted. "Not right now, anyway. With you, I'm the richest man in the world."

"That was cheesy," she said. "We're talking pure, 100% pure Wisconsin cheddar here, Embry."

"It was supposed to be sweet," I said.

She looked up at me, laying her chin against my chest. "It was," she explained. "But it was still cheesy. It was one of those lines you hear in 50's romance movies."

"Is there something wrong with 50's romance movies?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, smirking. "Lines like those."

"Come on, Penny Serenade?" I insisted. "His Girl Friday?"

"Okay, so His Girl Friday wasn't too bad, but I don't exactly consider that a romance," she said. "A little, sure, but not entirely. And aren't you a little young for Carey Grant films, anyway?"

"My mom's a fan," I explained. "Wait 'til I tell her you're not. That'll be the end!"

She poked my ribs. "Thanks," she said, leaning her head against my chest again.

"For what?"

"Making me forget it again," she said, squeezing me gently.

"Do you WANT to forget?" I asked.

"Not entirely," she said. "But, I want to not think about it. It's been easier to not think about it since I met you."

"That's what I'm here for," I said. "To help you forget."

She smiled at me. "Just for that, I'll let you stay tonight," she said. "I think I need you, anyway. I'm still a bit tender and you'll keep me sane."

So I stayed there that night. Olivia's dreams must have been torturous because she tossed and turned for two full hours before her eyes flew open and she sobbed into my chest. I didn't ask her what the dreams had been and she didn't offer any information. Finally, though, she told me she was sorry and that I should get some sleep. When I objected, she threatened me with cold medicine. That made me grin, but I obediently lay down and allowed her to sing me to sleep.


	13. Visitors

Edward and Olivia were getting along so well that most of the wolves were starting to think of them as twins. Jake got a kick out of them and Nessie was pleased that her dad had a friend as good as Olivia. I started getting the idea that she was keeping secrets for him when she started saying things like, "all things considered, Edward's turned out pretty good," but refusing to answer my questions on the matter.

It made me even more jealous, of course, because I wasn't entirely sure she would keep my secrets as well as she kept his. Bella and I had a talk about that once, while Edward and Olivia were discussing different ways to break a Faerie's concentration. She confessed to me that she was a little jealous, too, but that she just tried to remember that she had Jacob. I tried to remember that I had someone, too, even if I didn't realize who it was, but it didn't seem to help.

Until I worked it out.

It hit me one day when I was on patrol with Leah. We were being goofy, as was our usual behavior while on patrol together. We were playing the alphabet game- 26 things to do with butter this time- when we came to the letter T and Leah said,_ Throw it at Embry!_

I laughed at that and promptly lost my concentration. I couldn't think of anything to go with U. _I guess that means you win,_ I conceded.

_Oh, yeah!_ laughed Leah. _In your face, Call!_

That's when I stumbled in surprise and skidded to a halt.

_You okay? s_he asked.

_I'm... I'm all right, _I replied, my mind involuntarily linking her name with the phrase Soul Mate.

_WHAT?_

I quickly recounted for her Olivia's explanation of Soul Mates.

_And she thinks I'm yours?_ asked Leah dubiously.

_Apparently,_ I said. _She didn't actually say it was you. She wouldn't tell me because she didn't want to jinx it. She said we hadn't even realized we're friends. But think about it, Leah! We've always gotten along, even when you were being rotten about me. You always come to me with your problems and I've been coming to you with mine lately. Why would we do that, Leah? It doesn't make sense._

_You think she's right,_ Leah accused.

I sighed. _Yeah, I do,_ I told her.

Leah puzzled for a moment, her mind darting every which way to think of a reason against it, but given Olivia's criteria, she couldn't come up with a way out of it. _Okay, then, _she said. _26 Things to do with your Soul Mate. Go!_

_Activities._

_That's cheating! Oh, I'll allow it. Okay, boxing._

_Boxing?_ I asked, incredulous. _You'd box your enemy, not your Soul Mate._

_Unless you're boxing Christmas presents,_ retorted Leah slyly.

_Oh, all right. Cooking._

_Dining._

_Eating._

_That's the same thing!_

_Fine. Emptying beer steins._

Leah laughed. _Okay. Fresh berry picking._

_You should have used that one for B. Gift wrapping._

_Same as boxing Christmas presents._

_No, you're only putting them in boxes. I'm wrapping them._

_Fine. Have a party._

We continued like that and actually made it all the way to Z. I let Leah get away with eXamining significant others for X because she let me pretend that we'd actually do a quick step for letter Q.

When Quil and Collin relieved us an hour later, Leah asked if I wanted to go get ice cream at Red's because Bradon was at work and wouldn't Olivia be with Edward anyway? That last irritated me a bit, but I agreed to the ice cream idea. We both went home to get more clothes- we'd need shoes and I needed a shirt- and agreed to meet at the only place in La Push for ice cream.

Red's is a sort of diner near my mom's shop. The owner's name is James Redfern and his grandfather on his mother's side had been a dairy farmer. Homemade ice cream was their specialty. He'd moved to La Push from someplace down south about ten years ago and set up shop right away. His ice cream was so good that even in the coldest months, he was pretty busy.

Red was busily scooping out mounds of pumpkin ice cream for tourists when we arrived, joking about whether Olivia would even realize I hadn't come directly over. That made me worry that I should call her, so I dug my cell phone out of my pocket.

She answered on the first ring. "Embry!" she exclaimed. "I was just about to call you!"

"You were?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," said Olivia. "Edward and I are going to find out who's faster- a blocked vampire or the Faerie who's blocking him."

I didn't even bother to ask what that meant. "So you're not going to be around?" I asked, slightly hurt.

There was a pause. "I can tell Edward we'll go another time," she offered.

"No," I sighed. "Go have fun. Leah and I are getting ice cream."

I could hear the smile in her voice when she said, "oh, you figured it out, then."

"Yeah," I said. "Pretty cruel joke, though."

She laughed. "It's not a joke, Embry," she said. "Just enjoy it."

"Don't tell me he's resisting," came a melodic voice from the background.

"Who's that?" I asked. It hadn't sounded like Bella or Nessie.

"It's Claire the Elder," said Olivia. "She's got the other Claire with her and they're kidnapping Nessie for shopping. Bella went off with Jake earlier today."

I grinned. Everyone was mixing up today, it seemed. "Don't tear Edward's head off," I advised.

She laughed. "I won't," she promised. "Love you."

"Love you, too," I told her.

She disconnected.

"She and Edward are really as close as you let on, aren't they?" commented Leah.

"Yeah," I said. "It's not just my imagination."

"Are they soul mates?"

I glanced at her. "She thinks so," I said.

"And it makes you jealous."

"I know," I sighed. "I'm being stupid. She loves me. I know she does. She has no interest in Edward, but it's like she just understands everything about him and he understands her. Just the other day- when it was sunny, you remember- she was really quiet and I didn't know why. Well, we go over to the Cullens' and Edward meets us at the door with a cinnamon stick. I didn't get it, but Olivia was delighted. Apparently, the change in air pressure was getting to her and inhaling cinnamon helps tremendously. She told me that once! Why didn't I remember it and why did he?"

Leah nodded. "I think I can understand that," she said.

"You can?" I asked.

"Sure," she said. "I know how I would feel if some girl started hanging around with Bradon and she understood him better than I do, even if I knew he had no intention of getting romantic with her. Yeah, it would bug me, too, I think."

I gazed at her gratefully and suddenly knew how Olivia felt about Edward.

"Can I help who's next?"

I looked up to see Red watching us, his trademark smile firmly in place. "Hey, Red," I said.

"Embry, Leah," said Red.

Leah ordered a small watermelon ice cream in a cone and I went with a gooey chocolate and peanut butter. It was overcast, but not raining for once, so we took the ice cream outside and sat at one of the picnic tables. It was still damp, but wolves are notoriously oblivious to that sort of thing. There was a young couple chasing around a wiry-haired toddler not far from us and Leah watched them for a while.

"I hope mine's that cute," she said, watching as the child's father scooped him up and blew raspberries on his belly.

"Nah, yours'll be cuter," I said.

She threw me a grateful look. "Thanks, Embry," she said.

How had I known that's what she'd wanted to hear?

The toddler broke away from his father at that point and ran directly to Leah. "Hi!" he said cheerfully.

"Boy, get away from there!" called the father, laughing. "Don't bother them!"

"It's okay," said Leah, smiling at the boy. "I'm Leah. What's your name?"

"Walter!" said the boy, perfectly clearly.

I wrinkled my brow at Leah, wondering at the child's perfect articulation, but she just smiled. "Walter is a very nice name," she said.

"Yeah!" exclaimed the boy, climbing onto the bench next to Leah. He studied her stomach for a moment. "Baby," he said, pointing to her.

Leah blinked, astonished.

"Walt!" exclaimed the dad, scooping him up. "I'm sorry," he told Leah.

"No, it's okay," said Leah, dumbfounded. "He's right."

The dad blinked. "He is?" he asked. "You don't look it."

"Well, I'm only about two months along," admitted Leah. "But, how did he know?"

"He's got a knack," said the mother, approaching shyly. "He can tell about people. He knew our neighbor had a brain tumor before the doctor did. He even knew almost immediately when I- well, I'm pregnant, too." She ducked her head, blushing. "Only a few weeks, but I knew immediately, of course. He gets it from me."

"That's amazing," said Leah.

I nodded in agreement.

"You're not the father," the woman said to me.

"No," I said, grinning. "Just a friend."

"Embry's practically a brother," added Leah.

"I can tell," the woman said. "It's the knack."

The man touched the woman's arm and the two of them nodded a humble goodbye to us and as they started to walk off towards an absolutely gorgeous '59 Chevy, I realized what was so odd about them. "They're Faeries," I whispered to Leah.

Leah glanced at me. "I know," she said. "I just realized- they smell like Olivia.."

"Yeah," I said. "Sorta like pepermint and cornbread."

"Exactly!" said Leah. "That's exactly the smell combination. I couldn't figure it out."

The woman turned and waved at us and Leah waved back.

"I wonder if they know Olivia is here," I wondered.

"I hope they never find out she's friends with a Vampire," said Leah.

I grinned as the Chevy started and backed out of its place. Wouldn't it just be a great get-out if strange Faeries came to visit and discovered one of their own hanging out with a Hemophile? I shook my head as I went back to my ice cream.

We finished up and headed down to First Beach where we found Quil hanging out with Collin and Jared. We joked with them for awhile, razing Collin about when his girl would turn up and drop him to the floor with one glance. He took it all in good humor, even when Leah suggested that she might be a lot older than him.

Olivia called to let me know she was back if I wanted to do something, so I told her I'd come to the Cullens' place for a bit. She replied that she thought that was a brilliant idea and that she was going to go mess with Edward's piano.

I grinned as I told the gang I'd see them later and headed towards my car.

...................................

I could hear Edward and Olivia talking as I approached the house and slowed to listen in.

"I'm telling you, Edward, if some jerk ever promised he'd never leave unless I wanted him to, then left because he thought it was for 'my own good,' I'd let him suffer," Olivia was saying. "I wouldn't go save his sorry life if he was willing to kill himself over me; it would be his own fault. And if someone somehow DID convince me to go after him, I'd walk away from him the moment he was out of his stupid danger!"

I froze. She sounded REALLY angry. What was this about?

"What about Dominic?" Edward asked, his voice even.

Olivia huffed. "He can suck a raw egg," she said. "It's his own fault, after all. There's no way I'd take him back. Not after that. Bella was TOO good to you, Edward. I'd have said, 'sorry, Edward, but I'm with Jacob now so you can just go back to whatever the hell you were doing and leave me alone'!"

I'd never heard Olivia curse before. I had a feeling that if I could see her, her face would be red and her eyes would be blazing.

"Okay, so you wouldn't save my sorry life and you wouldn't save Dominic's," Edward said calmly. I had no idea what Dominic had to do with anything. Hadn't she mentioned a Faerie by the name of Dominic? Was he a friend of Olivia's at whom she was angry?

"Absolutely not," said Olivia heatedly.

"But, what about Embry?"

There was a long pause.

"What?" Olivia's voice sounded as if she had been derailed.

"What if it was Embry?" asked Edward. "What if Embry left because he thought it would be safer for you if he weren't around? What if he thought you were dead and tried to end his own life because of it? What would you do, then?"

There was another pause. This one was so long that I thought perhaps I wasn't listening hard enough, so I extended my senses until I could hear Olivia's soft, slightly ragged breathing. No, she must be thinking very hard.

"I- would save him," she finally whispered and I could hear the tears in her voice.

"So you see," said Edward softly.

"Yes!" gasped Olivia, sounding on the edge of tears. "I would save him."

"And you would take him back."

"I would! And I would never let him go away again!"

That's when I realized that the difference between Edward and me- between Soul Mate and Significant Other- was this: Olivia would do whatever she could for me. She would save me from my own stupidity and she would forgive anything I might think to do to her. She would NOT do that for Edward.

The knowledge suddenly eased any lingering jealousy I felt for Olivia's relationship with Edward. I suddenly didn't care if she wanted to spend every waking moment with him because I knew those feelings were different than the ones she held for me.

It struck me suddenly that Edward may have orchestrated the whole conversation for my benefit. He must have known I was coming. He'd have heard me from a mile off and there was no way he could've missed the car door slamming when I'd arrived. As if in answer to my curiosity, Edward appeared in the doorway, a passive look on his face. "Good afternoon, Embry," he said.

_That was for my benefit, wasn't it?_ I thought at Edward.

He gave me the hint of a wink and a half nod.

Olivia peered around Edward then, a look of pure joy on her face. "Embry!" she cried.

I melted at once. "Hi, Olivia," I said.

"I'm going to teach Edward how to overcome unfriendly faeries after dinner," she said. "You can watch if you want to. It should be interesting." She gave Edward a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, keep it up, Faerie," said Edward, returning her grin. "We'll see who comes out on top."

I grinned as Edward stood aside to make room for me to get through the door. I slung an arm around Olivia's shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "That sounds great," I said.

Olivia gave me a suspicious look. "Did you just have a really good time with Leah, or something?" she asked.

"I think you were right about one's Soul Mate making one miss one's significant other," I dodged.

She grinned up at me, seeming not to notice my evasion. "Told you," she said.

Edward had made French Onion soup and cucumber sandwiches. When I told him jokingly that it was sorta girly food, he laughed and threw a spoon at my head. Even if it was girly, it was very good. There was more milk and honey for desert and I let Olivia eat most of it.

She helped him clean up and they joked that their relationship would make a great Broadway musical. It would be a comedy, of course. They named the main characters. The Vampire would be called Michael O'Flarety and the Faerie would be called Umati. The Faerie should be African, Olivia said, because if any Faerie ever happened to see the play, that would please them. I didn't understand why, but Edward nodded thoughtfully. They also decided both characters should be male because too many people- humans, most of them- would read too much into a cross-gender relationship.

Then, Olivia got the bright idea that the play might be just the thing to end the centuries long feud. If enough Vampires and Faeries saw it, they might decide to look into the feud and realize that nobody really wanted to keep it going anyway. And humans would just think it was a ridiculous play. Edward thought that was a great idea and they started getting serious about it.

Once the dishes were done and the kitchen clean, Olivia reminded Edward that she'd been about to teach him how to overcome a "blocking Faerie." I didn't know what she meant, but we headed down to the wide open living room where she and Edward immediately took defensive stances.

"You see," said Olivia, addressing me but looking at Edward. "I'm holding my body and muscles in such a way as to disrupt the air molecules around me. This will block any special abilities of those around me. In a few moments, Edward will no longer be able to hear your thoughts. He will also be a bit slower. This will give me the advantage. Edward, you must promise me that what I teach you here will be used only with unfriendly Faeries and that you will avoid killing them at all costs."

"Of course," said Edward.

"Thank you," said Olivia. "But, could you say it? That way, none of my brothers or sisters may accuse me of betrayal and I have an official oath that will stand up in any of our courts."

"I will use this only against unfriendly Faeries and I will avoid killing them at all costs," said Edward soberly.

"Good," said Olivia. She stood with her feet about a foot apart, arms hanging loose at her sides, back straight, chin up. Slowly, she turned her hands to face palm outward and her head came down subtly.

Edward twitched. "It's unnerving," he said. "Being unable to hear thoughts."

Olivia grinned. "I imagine it would be," she said. "Now, the trick is to break my concentration. As you know, that's hard to do. I was able to run with you for miles without any difficulty. Your best bet is to try something I wouldn't expect- crude tactics work well. Head-butts, clotheslining, a punch in the nose. Anything that seems very uncouth. Now, come on. Try to distract me."

Edward darted towards Olivia, almost human slow, one arm raised in an obvious attempt at clotheslining. At the last minute, though, he dropped his arm and darted around her, catching her around the waist and twirling her around three times before attempting to toss her across the room.

She caught herself on the banister, though and landed on her knees. "Wow," she gasped, getting to her feet. "Nice one. You almost had me, I think. Don't stop, though, until you get your speed back. Come on," she added, beckoning him forward once more.

I watched them, fascinated, for a long time. Bella and Jake joined us after awhile, and Bella admitted to me that she couldn't hear our thoughts, either. The two Claires brought Nessie home, but didn't stay because it was nearly the younger Claire's bedtime and the Elder had to get her home. Nessie was fascinated by the 'fight' and watched for several minutes before suddenly remembering something important.

"I nearly forgot," she said as Edward and Olivia called it quits. "I saw some Faeries this morning. I think they realized what I was- they were very cautious."

"Dark skinned?" I asked. "With a toddler with wiry hair?"

"That's them," said Nessie. "The boy's name is Walt."

Olivia gasped. "Walt!" she exclaimed, her eyes going bright. "Oh! I've only met him once. He's my godson. The father is my older brother Yemi. Where did you see him?" she asked me.

"At Red's," I answered.

Olivia grinned. "Yemi's good," she said. "See, he's got this knack for finding friends of friends. He can find my friends and make an impression, then my friends tell me they saw him and I realize he's looking for me."

"Can't he just find you?" I asked.

"It does seem to be sort of unnecessary effort," said Bella.

"He could find me," said Olivia. "But, he likes to be covert and clever. He's a little odd. But, then, most Faeries are..." she trailed off, looking pensive. "Anyway, I should go home so he can come and visit. Oh, I'll have to take a shower. He wouldn't be happy if I came home smelling like a vampire. No offense, Edward."

"None taken," said Edward, ginning.

I followed Olivia home as always, but this time, I called the radio station and requested King Without a Crown. It was just finishing up when we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment house where Olivia lived. She leaped out of her car and rushed me, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me. "You remembered my favorite song," she said, eyes dancing.

"Of course," I said. "I gotta do SOMETHING. Edward can't do it all."

She grinned and kissed the end of my nose. "Come on," she said, dragging me towards the house. "I've got to take a shower and move the TV so it can be seen from the front window."

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

"It's my signal for Yemi that he can come for a visit," she answered. "I move the TV so it can be seen from the front window and turn on 'It's a Wonderful Life.' That way, he knows it's safe to come visit. Like I said," she added, unlocking her door. "He likes to be covert. Maggie! No!"

Maggie was greeting us in her usual fashion- jumping as high as she could and barking madly.

"Hi, Maggie," I said, reaching out to try to scratch behind her ears.

She jumped away, tail wagging and took off through the apartment, tossing one of her squeaky toys around.

I helped Olivia move the television. It only had to move a few inches. She put 'It's a Wonderful Life' on the DVD player and hurried upstairs to take a shower. I flopped onto the sofa and actually started watching the movie even though it was for Christmas. Maggie brought me one of her toys after a few minutes, though, so I spent a few minutes playing tug-of-war with her until the door bell rang. I went to answer it, figuring it would be Olivia's brother.

"Hi," I said, recognizing the couple from the ice cream shop right away.

"Ah," he said, eyes brightening. "I knew you were a friend of Olivia. Is she home?"

"She went up to take a shower," I answered. "But, she's expecting you. Yemi, right?"

He smiled, his white teeth showing brightly against his dark-skinned face. "Yes, that is my given name," he said. "I've been going by Thomas lately, though."

"Come on in," I said.

Thomas/Yemi motioned the woman- who carried Walt- into the house first. "This is Amelia," he said. "And you've met Walt."

"Wolf," said Walt definitively.

I grinned. "Hi, Walt," I said. "I'm Embry," I added to the parents.

"Wolf," repeated Walt.

"Yes, Walt, shh," said Amelia.

"It's okay," I said. "You ever met a wolf, Walt?"

Walt shook his head.

"Maybe I'll show you my wolf sometime, eh?" I asked.

Walt grinned and clapped.

"Yemi!"

I turned to see Olivia hurrying towards her brother, her hair still wet and her nose shiny from the shower.

"Zu'rima!" exclaimed Yemi.

Olivia threw her arms around Yemi's neck and kissed his cheek, laughing. Yemi returned her hug, laughing along with her. Once Olivia was done with Yemi, she turned to Amelia and Walt, calling Amelia "Salah."

"Oh, Zu'rima!" cried Amelia. "We've missed you!"

"I've missed you, too," said Olivia. "What are you going by this time?"

"Amelia and Thomas," answered Thomas. "And you?"

"Olivia," she replied. "Last name of Casey."

"Olivia Casey," said Amelia. "It has a nice sound. We're using the sirname Keane."

Olivia grinned. "That's not bad," she said. "It's sort of nice. Last time, I was Janice Gray. Janice! But, it was a common name at the time, so...." She shrugged. "I blended in nicely, anyway."

"That's what's important," said Thomas. "There was one time in Holland when I went by Maarten."

They spent several minutes then talking about names while Olivia pulled out bread and milk and honey. Walt eyed it hungrily until his mother finally gave him a piece of bread smeared with honey and asked Olivia for a small cup for him. Olivia obliged and they eventually all settled down to enjoy the treat.

I was just about to excuse myself so Olivia could have time with her brother when something happened to change my mind completely. Olivia had just set the sliced loaf of bread on the table and set out three glasses for the adults when Thomas slowly picked up the jar of honey and sniffed at it carefully. He frowned, then sniffed again.

"Olivia," he said carefully. "Where did you get this honey?"

"From a friend," Olivia answered.

"Is this friend trustworthy?" he asked, still holding the jar.

"Very," she answered. "I'd trust him with my life. Why?"

Thomas's eyes darted to me, to his wife and back to Olivia. "It smells like Hemophile," he said.


	14. Faeries and Vampires

Olivia froze, the carton of whole milk halfway to Amelia's glass. I froze, too, watching Thomas carefully. Amelia stared wide-eyed at Olivia and even Walt went very still, eyes on his father. The air was suddenly very tense. To say you could cut the tension with a knife would be not only cliché, but very untrue. The tension was too thick to cut. It was like glass or cement.

I stood there, very still except for my eyes, which darted between Olivia and Thomas, ready to move in to protect Olivia if I had to, but they just stared across the table at one another for the longest time.

Finally, Olivia seemed to have decided on what to say. "Don't use that word," she said stiffly, not moving an inch. "Especially when you're talking about Edward."

"You're using its name?" asked Thomas, sounding disgusted.

"HIS name," corrected Olivia.

Thomas grunted in disgust.

"He's a friend," said Olivia calmly. "I trust him."

"You're friends with a HEMOPHILE?" demanded Amelia, outraged.

"They eat people, Olivia," Thomas reminded her. "PEOPLE!"

"Not Edward," said Olivia. "Nor any of his family."

"Did he tell you that?" asked Thomas, growing angry.

"His eyes did," answered Olivia. "They're golden, not red."

Everyone was silent for a long time, then. Still, nobody moved.

"Edward's wife is an Elder," I offered quietly.

Amelia's head snapped up to look at me. "Johansen?" she asked.

"No," I answered. "Her name was Swan. It's Cullen, now."

"I don't know her," said Amelia. "How old is she?"

"She'd be nearly nine, I think," said Olivia, finally setting the carton of milk down and sitting in her chair. "And she wouldn't be with Vampires if any of them were dangerous."

"No," agreed Thomas. "She wouldn't."

They were all silent for awhile. Walt reached for the jar of honey, his hands sticky from the last piece of bread he'd eaten. This time, though, Amelia ignored him.

Thomas stared at Olivia for a long time, finally setting the jar of honey back on the table. "You said you'd trust him with your life," he said.

Olivia nodded.

"Would you trust him with mine?"

Olivia nodded again.

Thomas pursed his lips pensively. "How about Walt's?" he asked.

She nodded a third time.

"Would you trust him with Angum'yo's life?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Olivia said, "yes."

Thomas's eyebrows shot up. I had no idea who Angum'yo was, but I gathered from Thomas's surprised reaction that he must have been someone very important to Olivia.

The two of them just stood there, staring at one another. Amelia sat very still, staring back and forth between them and Walt reached for the bread and honey again. I wondered if I'd see an attack if one came, but dismissed the thought as ridiculous; Thomas would not attack Olivia. His anger was obviously on behalf of her safety and not directed at her.

Finally, Thomas crossed his arms. "I want to meet him," he said.

Amelia gasped.

"No," said Olivia.

"I thought you trusted him," said Thomas.

"I do," she said. "It's the situation I don't trust."

"No, it's me you don't trust," accused Thomas.

Olivia opened her mouth, closed it, shrugged and then sighed. "Well, yes," she said.

Thomas growled.

"Well!" said Olivia. "His prejudices have been challenged. He's likely to give you a chance just for being a friend of mine. I'm not so sure about you showing him the same considerations.

Thomas glared a moment longer, then nodded and shrugged in a way that said he thought she had a point. "Okay," he said finally. "If I swear it?"

Olivia's eyebrows shot up. "You swear not to hurt him?" she asked.

"I swear to put aside my prejudices and give him the benefit of the doubt," he said solemnly.

Amelia gasped again.

Olivia mouthed wordlessly, a look of mingled shock and awe on her face. "Wow," she said finally. "Um... wow. That's more than I expected. And you trust yourself to keep your word?"

Thomas thought about it for a moment. "I do," he answered confidently.

Olivia seemed impressed. "All right," she said finally. "Amelia, if you would like to stay here with Walt, you are welcome."

"Thank you," said Amelia, looking relieved. "I don't think I could trust myself."

Olivia nodded. "Embry?" she said.

It was a moment before I realized she was asking if I would accompany them. "I think I'd better go," I said. Even though I knew Edward and Bella would be able to handle Thomas with Olivia's help, I was taking no chances.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I was thinking hard at Edward when we were still several miles out and the look of concentration on Olivia's face told me she was doing the same. He and Bella would be well warned of the situation.

We arrived to find Edward, Bella, Jake and Nessie on the front porch. Edward and Bella held a carefully neutral stance and Jake had his arms folded across his chest, appearing defensive. Nessie looked totally natural, smiling as we approached.

"Hi, Olivia!" Nessie cried, hurrying to greet us. She threw her arms around Olivia's neck in what I felt to be an overwhelming greeting.

"Hi, Nessie," said Olivia, returning the hug. She, too, seemed to be overdoing it a bit.

I gave Edward a quizzical glance and he just shook his head, watching the two of them carefully for a minute.

Olivia pulled away from Nessie and danced up to hug Edward and Bella. She only smiled at Jake, though. "Thomas," she said, turning to search out her brother. "This is Edward, Bella, Nessie and Jake. Everyone, this is my brother, Thomas."

"Hello, Thomas," said Edward, giving a slight nod in Thomas's direction. "Pleased to meet you."

Bella nodded enthusiastically and opened the door. "Please come in," she said.

Jake and I hung back and Jake quickly answered my quizzical look. "Bella said that Olivia was telling them to act really excited when we got here so Thomas would see how much they love her," he said. "It's not important for me, though, because Faeries don't have problems with wolves, just Vampires."

I nodded. I never would have thought of that.

When we walked through the door, Edward and Olivia were cheerfully sitting down at the piano, Olivia jabbering on about how she and Edward could play together for hours. Bella and Nessie sat nearby, looking as if nothing were wrong. Thomas, however, stood detached, arms folded across his chest, watching them stiffly, almost as if he expected someone to try ripping off their heads. I half expected him to try it himself.

I was paying such close attention to Thomas that I didn't even notice when Olivia's jabbering turned into a quite good piano duet. Olivia played the bass, as always, and Edward's hands seemed to fly along the treble notes faster than I'd have thought possible. I wondered who was the better player, but I knew so little about the piano that I couldn't be sure.

Thomas's eyes got so big, I thought they'd fall out of his head. He stared at Edward and Olivia, incredulity in every line of his face. Edward's jaw was tense, but he never even glanced at Thomas. I suspected he was a little irritated that he wasn't allowed to listen in on Thomas's thoughts. I was sure that, after how Olivia had reacted when he'd tried without permission, he wasn't about to test it.

Nessie and Bella both clapped enthusiastically at the conclusion of the piece and Olivia jumped up from the piano bench and pretended to curtsy. Edward laughed at them and even Jake and I cracked smiles.

"Come on, Thomas!" Olivia said, resuming her seat next to Edward. "Play with me! You've got to show Edward that Faeries are better than Vampires!"

"In your dreams," scoffed Edward, gently nudging her ribs with his elbow.

"Whatever," she told him. "We've been around longer. We've been playing the piano since it was invented. We're MILES better."

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that," retorted Edward. "You know I'm the real master."

"You gonna let him get away with that, Thomas?" Olivia asked.

Thomas slowly uncrossed his arms and made his way to the piano. Without a word, he took the place that Edward quickly vacated and began playing. Olivia did not join him, but let him play by himself.

I had to admit, Thomas was amazing. I had a feeling that if I could see his hands, they would be a blur of motion. Nessie seemed mesmerized and Bella was watching with her mouth slightly open. I didn't imagine that Liberace was even as good as that.

When he finished, there was an awed silence for several beats. Finally, Olivia said, "see? He's much better."

"He's even better than you," Bella told her.

"I know," said Olivia, grinning. She raised her eyebrows at Edward.

Edward gave her a rye smile and said, "I stand corrected."

Olivia grinned.

The visit wasn't long- Thomas couldn't stand to be around Edward much longer- but before we left, he informed Edward that he felt he was safe, but if he heard of ANYTHING befalling his sister, he and half the Faeries in the world would be bearing down on him. Edward promised solemnly that if anything DID befall Olivia, he would be fighting WITH her family and not against them because he would not be the cause of said harm.

I thought it was all very melodramatic, but Olivia seemed pleased.

As we were diving home, Thomas seemed pensive. He didn't say anything for a long time and his face was inscrutable. Finally, as we pulled up in front of Olivia's apartment, he sighed.

"He loves you, doesn't he?" he asked.

"Of course," answered Olivia. "He's my best friend."

There was a pause. "And you love him," said Thomas.

"Yes."

I felt a slight pang at that, but quashed it quickly. I knew what she meant and I would not let it turn to jealousy.

Thomas sighed. "I suppose you know what you're doing," he said finally.

"Thank you," said Olivia.

"If I told you I didn't trust him, you would ignore me, wouldn't you?" he asked.

"Yes," Olivia told him.

"I thought as much," he said, opening the car door. "Amelia will be wondering what has happened."

We all trudged back to the house. As soon as we walked through the door, Amelia- who had been pacing the floor- turned to face us and the tension in her face eased immediately. "It went well, then?" she asked.

"Thomas showed Edward how Faeries play the piano," Olivia said. "Where's Walt?"

"Sleeping with your dog," said Amelia with a grin. "She was sitting in her little pet bed and he crawled up next to her and fell asleep. Now they're both sleeping."

Olivia grinned and headed for the stairs. I followed her quietly.

"You're so quiet tonight," she whispered as we reached the landing. "You normally talk more than this."

"I don't know what to say," I told her.

She grinned at me over her shoulder and approached Maggie's room silently.

I peeked over her shoulder. Maggie was awake, but lying very still. Walt was half draped over her, his tiny hand clutching the fur of her neck. She looked content and Walt looked peaceful.

Olivia turned to me suddenly and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I asked when she finally pulled away.

"You're just a great man," she said, settling against my chest. Her arms went around my waist and made me shiver.

"Does that mean you'll marry me?" I asked, wrapping her in my arms.

"Probably," she said. "But, give me time, okay?"

"Sure," I said. I kissed the top of her head.

"You don't even know it, but you did the exact right thing at Edward's place," she told me.

"Did I?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "By not saying a thing, you and Jake gave proof that Edward is safe. If you'd defended him, Thomas may have thought you were against us. Keeping your mouths shut... well, it sort of made it seem as if you felt comfortable around him, or like he needed no defense. It was perfect."

"I think we just didn't know what to say," I told her.

"I know!" she said. "That's why you are so wonderful!"

Walt stirred and Olivia and I sneaked away so we wouldn't wake him.

Amelia was crying when we arrived in the kitchen. I was concerned until I noticed that Thomas- who was kneeling in front of her- was smiling gently as he stroked her hair. "She was afraid the hem- sorry, Vampire- would kill me," he explained.

Olivia smiled. "Amelia," she said gently, going to place a hand on her sister-in-law's shoulder. "Vampire's CAN'T kill us. You must know that."

"There's always a chance," Amelia insisted. "If they're quick enough, they can get in a killing blow."

"With another Faerie, two weremen and an Elder to stop him?" said Olivia. "Not a chance!"

"But, the Elder's on HIS side!" protested Amelia.

"She wouldn't let him do something he'd regret," Olivia said. "Elders don't take up with Vampires unless the Vampires are at least TRYING to be good."

"That doesn't stop me worrying," Amelia muttered, swiping at the tears.

Once Amelia had calmed down, she helped Olivia pull out the sofa bed while Thomas and I gathered blankets from the closet upstairs. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay tonight. Olivia seemed very concerned about appearances and I was sure she wouldn't want Thomas to think we were already involved. So, I was surprised when Amelia cocked her head at me as I told Olivia goodnight and headed for the door.

"You have imprinted on Olivia, haven't you?" she asked.

"Well... yes," I answered.

"And you do not stay?" asked Amelia, turning to Olivia. "Why doesn't he stay? Don't you want him?"

Olivia grinned at Amelia. "He usually stays," she said. "I think he's noticed how concerned we are with appearance." She turned to me. "They know exactly where we stand, Embry, and they won't think anything of it if you want to stay."

"Do... do you want me to stay?" I asked, suddenly uncertain.

"I always want you to stay," she said.

I just ginned.

"Walt will be fine where he is?" Amelia asked Olivia.

"As long as you don't mind him sleeping in my dog's bed," said Olivia. "I don't mind and I know Maggie doesn't mind. She can sleep on Embry. She used to like doing that."

"I'm not so sure how Embry feels about that," said Thomas with a grin, catching the look on my face.

"Sometimes, she dreams and winds up scratching me," I said.

Olivia grinned at Maggie, who had somehow extricated herself from under Walt. "You won't dream tonight, will you?" she asked.

Maggie glanced at me, then looked back at Olivia and sighed.

"I take that as a probably," I moaned.

Olivia just grinned and started dragging me towards the stairs. "Good night, Amelia, Thomas," she called over her shoulder. Maggie trotted obediently after us.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Hi! Hi! Wolf! Hi!"

I blinked my eyes at the light and glanced around to see who was talking. It took me several minutes to focus and when I finally did, I saw Walt standing next to the bed. "Hey, buddy," I said. "Good morning."

Walt tried that on for size and wrinkled his nose when all he got was something that sounded like, "g'moooon."

I grinned at him. "That's okay," I told him. "You'll get the hang of it."

He grinned back, showing a few tiny baby teeth.

"You hungry?" I asked as my stomach growled. "Want some breakfast?"

Walt nodded. "Eggs!" he said.

I smiled and pulled myself out of bed. "Eggs it is, then," I said, scooping him up and heading for the stairs. "Come on, let's see if your mom's around."

Amelia was nowhere to be found, however. Thomas and Olivia were gone, too. It was not unusual for me to wake up and find Olivia gone, so I wasn't too concerned. I settled Walt on the sofa- the bed had been put back into it and the blankets and pillows were nowhere in sight- and turned on The Disney Channel. Imagination Movers was on and Walt seemed to know it, so I left it there while I made eggs and ham and reheated some pancakes Olivia had made a few days ago. I gave Walt a scrambled egg, a small piece of ham and half a blueberry pancake. I knew from watching Leah with her younger half brother Freddie that it was better to give kids a little bit and allowing seconds than starting them off with too much.

Walt and I ate our breakfast while watching the rest of Imagination Movers and the beginning of a show called Jungle Junction. That's where Olivia, Thomas and Amelia found us when they came back. Most of Walt's ham and all of his eggs were gone, but he'd only eaten a couple bites of the pancake. Still, I had the foresight to grab the plate as soon as he spotted his mother. Sure enough, he toppled the TV tray to get to her and wrap his arms around her legs.

Olivia grinned at me as Amelia scooped up her son and twirled him in the air. "Sorry," she said. "I thought we'd be back before you guys woke up."

"It's okay," I told her. "I made breakfast, see?"

"Ooo," said Amelia to Walt. "Eggs and ham! Your favorite! Uncle Embry must be a mind reader!"

I caught myself grinning at that. Uncle Embry. I liked it.

Olivia winked at me. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

"So where have you three been?" I asked, taking my plate along with Walt's into the kitchen.

"Edward's," said Amelia. "I decided I had to meet him for myself. I suppose he's safe enough. Nessie is pregnant."

I blinked and nearly dropped the plates. "What?" I said.

Olivia grinned at me, but said nothing. Amelia went about playing with Walt.

"Amelia noticed it right away," said Thomas. "And here I thought she smelled like Wolf because she's married to one. I never would have guessed she was carrying one, too."

"It's a girl," said Amelia. "A she-wolf. I think all of their children will be wolves. Half vampires are extremely strong and they're bound to pass that on to their children."

I shrugged, feeling extremely jealous of Jake at that moment. He was going to have a kid. Not fair. Add to that the fact that Seth only just met his girl not even a month ago and they were already married and I was very frustrated. I tried to remind myself that everyone's situation was different and that if Olivia wasn't ready for more I would be even more unhappy, but I was having a hard time convincing myself that things were great as they were.

I felt arms go around my waist as I rinsed off the plates and Olivia leaned her head against my back. "Don't be envious," she whispered. "You'll get yours, too. And it'll be worth it."

I grinned slightly, feeling all that jealousy melt away. "Thanks," I said, stacking the plates in the sink and turning to face her, pulling her into my arms. "I know it will. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be difficult."

"You're not difficult," she said. "You're just silly."

It was then that I noticed that Amelia and Thomas were both in the living room, carefully giving us privacy by playing with Walt while the closing credits to Jungle Junction played on the television. Somehow, I knew they were giving us privacy. "How do Faeries know when you need to be alone?" I asked. Is that another one of your gifts?"

"Nah," said Olivia. "It's experience. We've been around so long, we know what people need before they know themselves. It's something that even humans can pick up on if you're observant enough. You usually know what I need."

"I do?"

Olivia laughed softly, nuzzling my chest. "Yeah," she said. "And you don't even know that you're paying attention."

"It's all part of imprinting," I said. "I just do it automatically."

"And with Leah, too," she said. "You understand her perfectly well. My point is, Embry, that anyone can learn it, given enough time and desire. You want to understand me and Leah, and so you do."

"So you're saying that I could understand anyone, if I only wanted to?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied. "But, it's a pretty tall order to expect yourself to WANT to understand people. It's hard to make yourself want something."

I chuckled. "You are full of contradictions," I said. "First, you say that I could do it if only I would try and then you say that it's really hard and practically dismiss the idea altogether!"

"Well," she said, but didn't finish the sentence.

"Faeries," I said, feigning exasperation.

"You wouldn't have it any other way," she said.


End file.
